Matias Faldbakken is a Norwegian artist and writer whose work delves into the intersection of art and literature. He employs a distinctive approach to language and form, often exploring unconventional themes and structures. Faldbakken's writing challenges traditional narrative boundaries, inviting readers to engage with complex ideas through his unique perspective.
For this publication, novelist and artist Matias Faldbakken (born 1973) went into the log of his various hard drives and extracted parts of his Google search histories. His search phrases, reproduced here chronologically, were mostly oriented around image searches, and therefore illustrate the verbal foundations of Faldbakken's art. This volume occupies a space in between the artist's visual and textual production, thus resembling a form of concrete poetry.
As ifThe Remains of the Dayhad been written by Kingsley Amis . . . brilliantly exquisite . . . This book is a meal you won?t want to finish.' J. Ryan StradalWelcome to The Hills, Oslo?s most esteemed restaurant, an institution stewed in tradition and clinging to the faded grandeur of old Europe. A neurotic waiter tends to the desires of his regular - and irregular - clientele. Aristocrats and artistes, wealthy widows and roguish entrepreneurs, he observes all their dramas with a wit as sharp as a filleting knife. At table ten sits the impeccable Mr Graham, the most demanding of them all, impatiently awaiting a special guest. When at last she arrives - young, beautiful, mysterious - she will prove a challenging new flavour, throwing into disarray our waiter?s nerves, and the delicately balanced ingredients of the room. Exquisitely observed and wickedly playful, The Waiteris a novel for lovers of food, wine, and of European sensibilities, but also for anyone who spends time in restaurants, on either side of the service.