Elvelangs Melbu Festival, Nordland, Arctic Circle, Norway
Leviathan’s Light was a series of light and projection-based installations developed for the Elvelangs Melbu Festival, which marks the transition into the Arctic winter and the return of extended darkness. The project was led by Alice Helps and marked the collective’s return to the Norwegian Arctic.
Installed along the banks of a stream on Hadseløya, oil drums filled with water contained wax sculptures submerged beneath the surface. Visitors were invited to wear viewing goggles and immerse their faces underwater, holding their breath to encounter the illuminated forms below.
The work reflected on fragility, endurance, and human interaction with extreme environments, using light, water, and bodily participation to extend the Leviathan narrative into an intimate, sensory experience. Leviathan’s Light shifted the project toward quieter acts of attention and care, closing a cycle that began with sound and ended with immersion.
