LONE RANGING AUGUST 2005

We are on the road!

Starting from Møre and Romsdal County. We made longer visists to Volda, Ørsta, Åmdalen, Melsbygda, Follestadalen, Rjånes, Eikesund, Folkestad, Ålesund, Bergen and Stavanger.The ground work has been made, thanks to so many brilliant people we have met. We would like to thank them for their generousity in the interviews and for rejuvinating and motivating us to keep on with this stubborn project! Here is a little introduction to the people cars and songs we`v met. We hope you take time out to see the sunset:

First stop in Melsbygda and two fields of Volvos.

The family Nossen choice of nostalgic songs:
Berit- On my word by Cliff Richard, press play

Monica - Jolene by Dolly Parton, press play

Arnar - On the road again, by Canned Heat, press play


Robert - could not meet us for an interview but gave us a suggestion for a ritual: Bake a cream cake for every even number of cars you see.
Think of a blue Volvo Amazon 67.

We talked about the family’s relation to Volvo Amazon, how it has become a centre, a link to romantic and funny stories; we talked about notions of belonging, about describing a sense of home from the centre of conjoint activity. The house the Nossen family is situated in an area everybody in the village calls ‘home’ even if they do not live there. We talk about the notions of belonging till the sun is about to set.

Quote on notions of belonging: ”Could it be that when geographical notions of home is exploded, we replace them with the notion of identity”

Link to quote

www.agora8.org

Link to cream cake

www.it-student.hivolda.no

Same day we headed out on the road and saw a Volvo truck 1970 model, we followed it till the end of the track and met: Kjell Arne, Edvart and Roy Asbjørn. They guided us to meet. The brothers in Åmdalen

The brothers select their song of nostalgia:
Johnny Cash Folsom prison blues, press play


At present they are restoring a Volvo Amazon. It has taken 4 years and they reckon to take more time, it’s a durational project. The final goal is when the car is ready for a Sunday drive and then the previous owner will serve cream cake with cracked cream and beer ”blautkake med sprokkje krem og bokkøl” We had a talk on aspects of time and duration.
Quote on duration ”A strong and daring aspect addressing the durational is that it takes place in order to disappear and that it ask you to be part of that.”

Link to quote

www.soton.ac.uk/%7Ebepc/poets/bergvall.htm

Link to blautkake

www.hybelmat.com

The brothers guided us to the next Volvo Amazon.

Inge, is about to have his dinner as we meet him, but is kind enough to skip it for the sake of a lone ranging reportage: He selects his Nostalgic song: Bad animals by the Hearts. Press play (coming soon)

We get to see a fuscia red Volvo Amazon a 1966 model from the same year he was born. When he gave it a new coating he also made a comment on reading as he rearranged the letters with a intended misspelling. It now says Vovlo. We have a talk on the significanse of irregulareties.

Quote on misspelling “My choice not to translate or purposely mistranslate language is part of an aesthetic and political strategy, a multi linked language that never rests, it crosses borders continuously and encourage readers to create their own."

Link to quote www.pochanostra.com>

www.pochanostra

Link to mix masters and the voices, which was a sticker on Inges car

http://home.online.no/~iahaugen/mixmasters.htm

Next link led us to Ole Johnny and daughter Issabell
When we ask them for a nostalgic song they asked us to take a random pick from the radio. This is what we found when putting on the radio at sunset
You’ve got a friend by James Taylor. Press play


His Volvo Amazon is a 65 model. Ole is not after the perfect car he likes to experiment with coats that don’t belong to the original brand, in this way he offers a re-reading and rebelry against branding. He claims that when a car is too perfect it looses its value because you get afraid of using it, you can’t just throw something in the back without worry. We had a talk on values and authenticity.

Quote on authenticity and the theory death of the author: “the idea that texts have meaning and an independent existence outside that intended by the author, depending on the context and reader. According to this theory, any given text consists not of one authorial voice but of multiple genres, outside influences, subconscious drives, and pre-existing texts that constantly shape and inform all communication”

Link to quote

wikipedia

Link to Ole’s website

www.brentdekk.com

As one of the Gilberts has an interest in muscle cars Ole also emailed us some pictures

Muscle Cars

Ole gave us the next link with directions to follow: a winding road to Ørsta and take a left after a park. Maritabett and her daughters meet us in their drive way. She invites us in and chooses her nostalgic song: Europe, Talk to me, Press play


Maritabett has written a paper on Volvo 164 and the specific social and cultural history of the car. She is the proud owner of a blue Volvo 164. Maritabett is a visual artist and her work is related to concepts of nostalgia working with found photographs and its representation. She is currently reading philosophy on the nature of detours and to visualize the theory she offers us a ride in her car round town. We hope our roads cross again by the decision that random detours make.

Quote on the nature of Detours: "The comprehension of the self by the detour of the comprehension of the other." -Paul Ricouer 1977

Link to quote

www.lucidcafe.com

Link to where Maritabett took her degree

http://www.alesundkunstskole.no/

We had a stop at a petrol station and were given a tip to find another Volvo. We followed the road to the ferry in Rjånes and asked around. We took some directions, a few wrong turns, stopped at a plum red house and were met by Frank. He was happy to show us his father’s car as he had been driving it as an 18 year old a blue Amazon 66.

Frank selected a nostalgic song:
I wanna rock n roll all night, by Kiss, press play

In a second garage he shows us a well kept Volvo PV and tells us a story about his father, ”In the 50´s he fell in love with my mother who lived next door. He used to drive over there with his six extra lights and place the car at a position where the lights hit her windows hoping she she would come out. And she did you know shes my mother. I think he had a lot of respect for my grandmother and didn’t dare to make contact with her daughter in any other way, even though he was quite a tough guy, he was a sailor at the time, had a tiger tattoo.”

Link to the best tattoos ever

http://www.sailorjerry.com

Link to Rjånes ferry

http://www.voldaveiret.no/htm0304/1289.htm

Links to the Volvo Amazon club in Stavanger led us to Runar. His Nostalgic song is: On the road again by Willy Nelson, press play

Runar is the owner of a light green Volvo Amazon automatic 1966 model. The car has only had three owners and Runar has therefore been able to trace and get to know the history of his car. In the front mirror there is a tiny plastic rose. He informs us that its been there since the first owner of the car who placed it there, it has not been removed since. He likes its comment on time passing and several owners. “If I sell the car I would like the rose to follow and be passed on.”

Quote on response “Bhaktin describes utterance as primarily a form of response So just to speak is to him always an response, he is interested in special ramifications like the fact that we are already here as a response to something that happened already”

Link to quote

http://www.soton.ac.uk/%7Ebepc/poets/bergvall.htm

Link to the centre of our universe

www.nvak.no

Runar advices us to go to Jørgenrud garage in Spydberg as we are heading in the direction of Oslo. We got links to follow, detours to make and we head for Oslo. As we are driving in to the sunset. Press play Killer on the Highway by Helldorado

http://www.helldorado.no

Links to the place that’s got everything a Volvo Amazon may possibly wish for

www.jorgenrud.no