The umbrella project that started everything.
I put a speaker in an umbrella and programmed it to endlessly recombine phrases from Norwegian author Ari Behn’s interviews into absurd, pseudo-intellectual sentences. Stand under it and get bombarded with randomly generated wisdom like a very pretentious rain shower.
The Story Behind It
This was my art school portfolio piece. Ari Behn (Princess Märtha Louise’s ex-husband) was everywhere in Norwegian media at the time, making these lofty pronouncements that sounded smart but meant nothing. I thought: what if I made an umbrella that did the same thing? The title is classic Norwegian wordplay – “paraply” (umbrella) meets “Ari” plus a nod to parroting meaningless phrases. I was so proud of being clever.
The Process
I told people I’d written sophisticated software. Really, I just chopped up interview clips in some pirated audio editor and set them to shuffle. It worked flawlessly. It was a simple solution that did exactly what I wanted: created an endless stream of Behn-style pseudo-intellectual babble that never repeated the same way twice.
Why It Worked
People loved the absurdity of standing under an umbrella listening to fake wisdom. It poked fun at both pretentious public art (Oslo’s airport has these “sound shower” installations) and celebrity intellectualism. Plus, everyone got the joke about Norwegian media culture. This umbrella taught me that the best art takes everyday objects and makes them do something they were never meant to do.
The Experience
Visitors wander under the umbrella’s rim and trigger a continuous stream of faux-intellectual sound bites. The effect mirrors those soothing airport sound installations, but repurposed as satire. Araply exposes the thin line between gravitas and gibberish.
- Medium: Sound installation (Umbrella, speaker, computer, audio clips, playlist magic)
- Dimensions: Variable (umbrella suspended ca. 2m over audience)
- First Exhibition: Strykejernet Kunstskole Christmas Show, Oslo, December 2003
