Leigh ClarkeWorks
A Guide to a Moment was curated by Anne Szefer Karlsen and funded by the Municipality of Suldal. Seven international artists were invited to make work in the area of Suldal in Norway. The final outcome to the project is a publication given to each of the 3000 members of the Suldal community. On arrival, Clarke was immediately interseted in the fact that the area had a minimal history of crime, as does Norway nationally. In the first few days of his residency Clarke discovered an unsolved crime in the main town of Sand and spent the next month investigating and attempting to solve it. The work generated in Suldal was in response to this experience. The crime committed was that of a defaced tourist information sign that had been left for four years in view of the public. He managed to find two possible suspects of the defacing, one being the defaced model herself and the other her husband. The outcome of this project was a 10 minute film of Clarke re-painting the sign with an overlayed soundtrack of his mouth percussion and fiddle music by Norweigan folk musician Tove Solheim. A story of the crime based on interviews with the people of Sand accompanies the film. He also created fake movie posters for the film, based on the movie Dances with Wolves, the most watched video in the local library due to the fact that the only celebrity to visit the area was Kevin Costner on a salmon fishing trip.
Poster for the movie Danser Med Laks (Dances with Salmon)
Ink-jet on paper
84 x 118cm
Danser Med Laks movie poster on cafe wall
Ink-jet on paper
84 x 118cm
Danser Med Laks movie posters in tourist information boxes
Ink-jet on paper
84 x 118cm
Danser Med Laks movie poster in tourist information box
Ink-jet on paper
84 x 118cm
Danser Med Laks movie posters in tourist information boxes
Ink-jet on paper
84 x 118cm
Danser Med Laks movie poster in tourist information box
Ink-jet on paper
84 x 118cm
Danser Med Laks movie poster in tourist information box
Ink-jet on paper
84 x 118cm
Artist's studio and residence
The Boathouse
Sand, Norway
Sand, Suldal, Norway
Population of Suldal approx 3000
Population of Sand 1000
The vandalised Tourist Information sign
The Lakestudio (Salmon Studio)is Sand's biggest tourist attraction. The defaced sign had been left there for four years and was possibly defaced by the model or the model's husband.
Sand prides itself on having no crime.
Close up of defaced sign
Exterior paint on vinyl board
Sand, Norway
Still from the film Danser Med Laks
An edited 10 minute film from 1 hours footage of the artist repainting the face of the model/suspect back in to the sign
Sand, Norway
Still from the film Danser Med Laks
An edited 10 minute film from 1 hours footage of the artist repainting the face of the model/suspect back in to the sign
Sand, Norway
Still from the film Danser Med Laks
An edited 10 minute film from 1 hours footage of the artist repainting the face of the model/suspect back in to the sign
Sand, Norway
Jamming with Tove Solheim at the House of Culture
Mouth percussion and fiddle
Lecture to the people of Sand in the House of Culture
The artsit confronted the people of Sand with the story of the crime based on interviews gathered during the residency
