BLUE EYE AMPHI

2002

Ever since I visited the ancient city of Efesos in Turkey many years ago I had wanted to get the opportunity to build an amphitheatre – in stone – of course. Maybe quite ambitious but still my dream.
Before the millennium (year 2000) every community of Norway was challenged to choose a place in their environment as the Millennium Place (tusenårssted).
I was asked to be the artistic alibi for the millennium committee of Moskenes Kommune in Lofoten – what an honour (no kidding) – and my first comment at the first meeting was that we would never be able to choose a place for this purpose without having a fight between the east and the west of the community about the positioning of the millennium place unless it was placed just in between – more precisely at Blåøyet (blue eye) where they used to have a little party house in the old days – a place to dance and drink and have fun and of course fight before the end of the night. Ever since the old days this point into the ocean has been nicknamed Blåøyet and is today a popular spot to make an evening walk for locals and tourists included.
To my surprise the committee applauded my suggestion and the meeting was closed.
Then some time later I was called up by the cultural department and they wanted me to make a suggestion for some kind of identification at Blåøyet – to indicate that it was chosen to be the Millennium Place of Moskenes Kommune.
I put on the phone – looked out of the window at my favourite mountain Olstind and said to myself – AN AMPHITHEATRE.
It took me a year to build the amphitheatre – by hand – stone by stone – Such a process brings me to places hard to describe and that’s maybe why I like it so much.
Out of place – Out of time – Out of mind.
And I had made friends with the local eagles and the macrell school passing by the cliff below.
Two years later Aggie Frost had an improvised opening concert in the Blue Eye Amphi Theatre in connection with the making of the Documentary Film Panta Rei -
But where was the official representatives from Moskenes Kommune?
well I couldn’t really care. I have since then had great joy seeing the Millennium Place being used by the locals as a meeting point or place for a little rest and perhaps a little chat with a neighbour or a tourist passing by.