Let's Talk About The Weather
Io Sivertsen
My father doesn’t believe climate change is caused by rising human emissions. But I do. This work encompasses my relationship with him, while simultaneously describing my relationship to weather. It is a satirical approach to a very serious issue, blurring the lines of personal experiences and facts. Because it is very difficult to believe something that is not visible yet, this is an intuitive exploration on how climate change manifests itself.
Io Sivertsen is a photographer and filmmaker working between Norway and the Netherlands.
In her work she explores the boundary between truth and fiction. Using reality as a starting point, her image-making anchors the subject matter in her own personal perspective. Depicted themes include technology, internet culture, sexuality and identity. Alongside her practice she has initiated and developed short-films, exhibitions and a film festival. She is the co-founder of the independent film festival Cinema Underexposed - a The Hague based platform aimed for new voices and perspectives.
After graduating from The Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, she is now attending the master program at the Norwegian Film Academy in Oslo. In 2020 she attended the Canon Student Development Programme at Visa Pour l’Image. Her work has been shown at Eye filmmuseum and Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. San Mei Gallery in London, Grimstad short film festival in Norway, gallery CK13 in Serbia and cultural platform Page Not found in The Hague, among others. She has been published in Morgenbladet, Aftenposten and Zweikommasieben magazine.
Neither a beginning nor an end. Or to examine an egg
When I was 15 my doctor told me that it would be difficult for me to have children. She said there was something wrong with my eggs. All I could think about then, was the chickens in my mom's garden. How they carefully covered their eggs, wanting that someday they would hatch. I usually had to stroke their feathers, to remove the egg from their shelter, to bring it back inside, to the frying pan.
The first objects we learn are domestic. Plate, cup, fruit and eggs. You learn their shape and colour, traits and qualities. Water is in the cup, and fruit is on the plate. But they can both break if you throw them on the floor. But the fruit will only bruise, while the egg shatters. As a woman you are often confronted with your own ability to reproduce. That the clock is ticking, eggs are disappearing and you are becoming obsolete. The duality of the meaning of objects is exhilarating, that an egg is both totally conventional, yet also exceptional.
I am trying to make you look closely at something, To examine an egg.
Gazing at you
This is a collaborative piece of work, combining both photography and writing. By Marysia Świetlicka and Io Sivertsen.
In the beginning of lockdown last year, whilst working on separate graduation projects, finishing our photography BA in The Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague, and while scrutinizing our visual language we turned the lens to look at one another. We wanted to touch each other, but couldn’t. The project became an exchange of uncomfortably intimate moments, voyeuristic glimpses and an exploration of the gaze. The images are taken in a moment of complete trust, a silent performance.