The room that I am, the room I give birth to

Drawing by Julie Barfod

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The essay was originally written in Norwegian. English translation by Julia Morrissey and Julie Barfod

I understand this work as an outline, a dramaturgy seeking its form, of a poetic work of words dealing with the notion of surface through personal reflections embedded in the experience of being in the world as a body, as encountering other bodies, human and non-human. It seems to be divided into sections based on location, in some sense, a certain relation to a certain place, or architectural condition, at a certain time, with a distinct relation to a lived experience.”

“I appreciate the ‘idea’ that somehow through words this work could create a phenomenological experience within the reader, which in itself is an exploration of the notion of surface.”

- Jakob Oredsson

“I like that it is text and don’t feel the need for images, because there are a lot of images evoked in the text.”

- Jenny Perlin

“Eg tenkjer at eg ELSKER denne utruleg fine vogginga —:)— mellom kroppen, fødsel, hud etc. og eg tenkjer du kan introdusere dei ulike elementa tidleg, og skifte mellom dei gjennom teksten, ikkje tenk liniært, det tenkjer eg teksten din motstår ganske enkelt.” “Forma utfordrar, og berre fortsett, større, meir. Å la formen – reint formalt – på teksten gli saman med det visuelle, vil gje teksten ein eigen logikk”

- Marius Moldvær

Julie Barfod, “The room that I am, the room I give birth to,” Metode (2023), vol. 1 ‘Deep Surface’