Alice Slyngstad / SLEEPING HANDLES

30.10 – 14.12.2025
 

Standing between the perfect shadow and the full light of our handlings, we meet in the penumbra— a threshold for contemplation, orchestrated in time by the frequencies of sound, light and water. Through sculptural and performative bodies, intertwined in conversation, Sleeping Handles invites us to listen, to feel and to become yet another body performing— not through action, but through presence itself as we navigate the space.

The installation unfolds across two new works on display in separate rooms, composed of sculpture, light, sound, and a score that binds them together. Each element and gesture inhabits its own rhythm, choreographed by Slyngstad. Here, the technical becomes alive through voice and motion, where matter, light, and resonance converge, seeking to become graspable.

Alice takes the handle as a point of departure, a handle to hold on to. In the main room, six enlarged handles form a ring, evoking a series of portals that seem to open onto a pond. The water element appeals to a sense of fluid identity, but the flow here is controlled, timed by the interplay of the arches, light, and sound.

The score (16.02mins loop) emerges from a collection of writings, conceived specifically for the installation and shaped by different sentiments. Through choral and liturgical elements, the affective qualities of the voice bring a performative dimension that touches upon Alice’s way of composing—singing through writing and writing through singing.

In a separate room, inside a heavy bag, the figure of a seahorse rests—dormant, yet symbolizing a living element with the capacity to give birth. The bag’s handles lie still and rigid, perhaps alluding to the handles of emotional baggage while the figure is tended by a voice, a fluid element meant to soften the solid quality of this inert composition.

Alice Slyngstad (b. 1990) lives and works in Oslo. Slyngstad’s works comprise text, sound, video, installation, and performance and have recently been on show in solo and group exhibitions at  Kunstraum Niederoesterreich in Vienna (2024), the Vleeshal Center for Contemporary Art in Middelburg (2022), Palmera in Bergen (2021), and UKS in Oslo (2023). Slyngstad’s performances and films were presented at various institutions including the Bodø Biennale (2020), the EYE Filmmuseum in Amsterdam (2020), Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo (2020), and at Les Urbaines in Lausanne (2019). Slyngstad studied at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam and at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts.