En ansträngning, flera suckar / One effort, many sighs

video, 18:45 min

I am preoccupied with human effort when building on unstable ground. While excavating, we shift the balance in the ground and set masses in motion. For example, in order to prevent a landslide, preparatory work by stabilizing the ground is of great importance. This is a demanding process, and creates a problem that we try to solve.

In this project I visit a construction site in Årsta outside Stockholm, and transport excess mud excavated from a depth of ten meters to my studio. I build a long segmented wooden frame, and invite others to join me in a collective attempt of manufacturing bricks. By making a longer frame, I created a tool that goes against its original function and the accordance to the body; choreographing the collective to balance and negotiate in between the steps of making the bricks. This becomes a method to force a mass into regular shapes, while the collective becomes subject to the production system’s inherent rigidity.

Stella Dieden Richter is a student at the RIA in Stockholm, and has a background in dance and architecture. She works with performance, text, sculpture and installation, and often with an emphasis on relations. As a method, Stella removes materials from their original context and processes them. By working with bodies in relation to objects, places and materials, she creates methods for destabilization.