NS-12

NS-12 is audiovisual collaboration between the flmmaker Kristjan Loðmfjorð and the composer Konrad Korabiewski. Using the means of sound and image, NS-12 poetically portrays the fshing trawler Gullver based in Seyðisfjorður, East Iceland.
The trawler is a self-contained world; a space which functions both as workplace and as collective living arrangement, which is also personally and physically affective. For the people working on board the ship might be seen as a tool, but artistically it is perceived as a living organism, as a musical instrument triggering the senses, and as a visual landscape impressing with textures and colors. The constant sensation of motion from the heaviness and roughness of the rolling trawler conveys a state of confusion or reverie, like that triggered by seasickness.The ship itself is always in the foreground, with the life on board as the background.

Thus NS-12 captures the moment of an everyday situation applying an expressionistic approach for an experimental outcome. It communicates the human spirit, essential for the experience of the trawler at sea with the ceaseless sound and vibrations of the engine.
The original soundscape for the work is realized as a contemporary composition where all the sonic material is sourced from reality, whereas the imagery is mainly based of still-life recordings where visual perception shines above realism. Together the two mediums explore the complete body of the trawler as a visually intriguing labyrinth, where each room has its own way of carrying the sound from the engine.

The complete work including sound and image is purely feld recorded, accompanied with voiceover recordings performed by the Seyðisfjorður Church Choir and the fourth (and Europe’s frst female) president of Iceland, Mrs. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir. Recordings on board Gullver NS-12 took place during the period of September 2012 – December 2013. In 2014 NS-12 was nominated for the Marl Video Art Award in Germany.

Methodology:
In the research process, the artists went out on three tours on the trawler to capture sound and image in various seasons and weather conditions. The machinery and the captain’s diaries were also examined, extracting relevant texts. These transcripts were integrated into the final piece as subtitled and as read text, as they are very evocative and give an irrational sense of the trawler’s path: such as the ship’s state examination while in the dockyard, weather reports from out on open sea, injuries on board, and mechanical breakdowns.

8 channel installation:
A sound and video installation preferably presented by itself in a separate exhibition room. This 8 audio channel installation configuration, referring to the 8 cylinders of the trawler’s engine, aims at conveying the physical presence of the trawler’s space.

Exhibition history:
14.10.15 QC-Montréal,Festival Nouveau Cinéma, screening
11.10.15 QC-Montréal, North American premiere Festival Nouveau Cinéma, screening
26.10.2014-31.01.2015 DE-Marl, Marl Media Art Awards 2014, installation and award nomination
04.12.2014 CL- Valparaíso / South American premiere: Tsonami Sound Art Festival, installation
27.06.2014 PL-Gdańsk / Polish premiere: Soundplay Festival, installation
17.06.2014 IS-Seyðisfjörður, Icelandic premiere: Skaftfell – Center for Visual Art, installation
17.05.2014 DE-Berlin DAADgalerie, installation & artists talk
15.05.2014 DE-Karlsruhe, German / European premiere: ZKM | Center for Art  and Media Karlsruhe / Institute for Music and Acoustics, Sound Dome installation

Download Full HD video + 5.1 audio

Publication by Hatje Cantz: http://www.hatjecantz.de/ns-12-7325-0.html

Manuscript and cinematography: Kristjan Loðmfjorð
Phonography and composition: Konrad Korabiewski 
Sound engineered at Institute for Music and Acoustics ZKM - Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe by Konrad Korabiewski with Anton Kossjanenko
Voiceovers: Mrs. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, The Seyðisfjorður Church Choir
Producers: Konrad Korabiewski, Kristjan Loðmfjorð

Project management at ZKM: Yannick Hofmann, Marie-Kristin Meier  

ZKM | Hertz-Labor 
ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medien Karlsruhe

Funded by: 
The Icelandic Visual Arts Fund
The Cultural Council of East Iceland
The Danish Arts Foundation
The Danish Composers Society