edition 2:

"The Darkness"

In the middle of the Covid pandemic, Arvika Light! in 2021 takes a meditative path. Poetic and atmospheric works invite contemplation, acceptance, and healing.

"Infinity"

LED light installation by Meri Ekola – Finland

Location: City Park in Kattviken
Partner: Arvika Municipality

“We humans are trapped in an endless loop of continuous need for growth. We strive to expand in every way without awareness of the destruction we create. In the work "Infinity," when the water is still, the shapes are repeated on the water surface as a perfect reflection, but as soon as a small wind blows and waves are created, the image is distorted. Like this image, our existence is merely the result of appropriate circumstances. Something so fragile is impossible to preserve forever. A fragile harmony that we constantly try to achieve but remains a utopia.”

Meri Ekola uses light as her main medium of expression. She works with installations as well as in the wide area of performing arts. She holds an M.A. degree in lighting design from the Theatre Academy at the University of the Arts Helsinki. She currently lives in Brussels.

"Lost and Found"

LED light installation by Lin de Mol – The Netherlands

Location: Kyrkviken – Arvika Harbour
Partner: Arvika Municipality

Two suitcases stand on a solitary jetty overlooking the water. Lit from within, they look as if they have been used by someone, as their contents bulge their shape. A suitcase holds a life, the things we collect are the things we remember. We try to hold on to these things, especially when we lose our home and when it is uncertain where our future lies. Our time now, it is changing. Standing at this point in time, we can see where we are going and it is not such a beautiful picture. We will not be as free to go anywhere as before, and we must go on a deeper, more spiritual journey to find a light within ourselves.

Lin de Mol, born 1966, was educated at the Rietveld Academy and Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. She lived in New York, Los Angeles, Dublin, and Antwerp and has exhibited internationally since 1996. She has lived in Värmland since 2014.

"Liquid Moon"

Video projection by Lovisa Ringborg – Sweden

Location: Köpmangatan 2
Partner: Westra Wermlands Sparbank

The video moves slowly in an organic flow, gradually forming figures that are up to the viewer to interpret. One could see the work as a moving Rorschach test if one wishes. Sound and image together create a sense of water and space. The recurring pulse in the soundtrack can bring thoughts of a heartbeat or a pulsating jellyfish.

Lovisa Ringborg, (1979) is a Swedish photographer based in Stockholm. Ringborg was educated at the School of Photography in Gothenburg and is active both in Sweden and abroad. Her works consist of photographs, video installations, and sculptures. The claustrophobic atmosphere is characteristic of Lovisa Ringborg's visual world, which is built up in the borderland between fantasy and reality.

”Efterklang”

Multi-media video installation by Josefine Åhs Lagerberg & Ulf Lagerberg – Sweden

Location: Magasinsgatan 8
Partner: Tickster

"Echoes from an exploratory process.

Fragments from an inner journey in life, where feelings and thoughts take shape in subtle layers between step and pause."

Josefin Åhs Lagerberg (artist, b. 1992 Gothenburg) works with themes of belonging and identity.

Ulf Lagerberg (musician, b. 1952 Gothenburg) works based on sounds and moods.

In the multi-media installation "Efterklang," they have collaborated to touch different senses that can wander further in the viewer.

"Cocoon"

Video projection by Marjan Laaper – The Netherlands

Location: Hantverksgatan 1-3
Partner: Red Cross

Between the sharp points of a barbed wire, a caterpillar has made its cocoon. In the film, one sees the entire process of the butterfly emerging and developing its wings. The butterfly's fragility contrasts with the sharp wire, but the butterfly emerging from its cocoon also refers to freedom and the possibility of change.

Marjan Laaper, (1971) was educated at the Willem De Kooning Academy of Fine Arts in Rotterdam. She continued her education at the Maryland College of Art, Baltimore, USA, and the Rijksakademie Amsterdam, NL. She specializes in large-scale video projections, installations, and public art commissions. In her work, there is a tension between contradictory subjects and symbols, such as beauty and danger, the immaterial and the transient, trust and anxiety.

"A Sense of Wonder" (2021)

Video by Marjan Laaper – The Netherlands

Location: Kyrkogatan 21

In the film "A Sense of Wonder," an 18th-century Chinese porcelain statue of a female figure is looking at a snail on her hand. There is a strong contrast between the living animal and the static sculpture. The theme of wonder can be recognized in both the sculpture and the exploring snail. They seem to form their own small universe that must be explored and discovered. At the same time, they glorify the past and the connection that man and nature can have.