Lifeboats embrace life
by Jesper Erik Sørensen, journalist at DR

Life-boats Embrace Life

Art is a journey of the mind. Great art sends you on a long voyage, and Marit Benthe Norheim takes you even further. Life-boats is a declaration of love for life – a project which, once the moorings are cast off for its maiden voyage, is born and takes command of its own destiny.

With her art, Marit Benthe Norheim spins a net to capture the human being and give it agency. Art should not exist for its own sake, but move and transform, set conversations and humane processes in motion. Life-boats invite us all on board and make us participants in a project that calls for ethical and moral engagement with our fellow human beings.

And it is humanity that the artist summons into a meeting with many tons of concrete, as the three floating sculptures set course for Europe’s rivers and waters. I picture Marit Benthe Norheim as a woman of ancient Viking lineage, sending her fleet out to sea – not to raid with fire and sword, but on the contrary, to weave a fabric of human bonds, created through life-giving encounters across political borders, cultural divides, and religious differences. Even before they are dispatched on their voyage for humanism, the ships already unite the many volunteers who have taken part in bringing this immense sculptural project to completion.

The message is simple: only love – symbolized by woman’s ability to create life – can save a world that, since humankind took control of nature, has been engulfed in an eternal struggle between good and evil.
The artist has made a clear and unambiguous choice. Step on board without fear. Life-boats are so beautiful in thought and form that they can bring the soul to tears.

Jesper Erik Sørensen
Journalist, DR