about this site
An archive of information about the Norwegian artist, musician and poet, Magne Furuholmen.
quotes about magne and his work
"Magne has always been central to A-ha. He is by far the most playful of the three of us, the most impulsive, and he has very strong instincts. He has developed so much as an artist. Some of his work really hits me, other stuff not so much. He’s always had that artistic element to him, he’s always on a search. What I like about him is his honesty and his determination to peel away anything that doesn’t belong. What is the true essence of this or that? He never rests. It’s inspiring to be around. He has an ability to carry things, though; I’m much more laid-back," said Morten in this Times Online interview.
"I [was] curious to see what it sounded like. The short answer is 'pretty damn good'. I have had the six tracks on myspace on all day. Just looping round and round. It’s really surprising stuff...The standout track so far is the title track “A Dot Of Black In The Blue Of Your Bliss“, the gritty electronic bass complements the gritty lyrics. This song has been lovingly and carefully assembled. I really like the production." posted by 'thatch' on duggup.com.
"This is a beautiful and melancholic release from Furuholmen, where the simple piano chords in the company of the tender brass instruments give a feeling of tranquility and inspiration...His sensitive, uneven voice moves through an ocean of slide guitar, echo and fuzz and makes the song one of the best on the album...Together with a bottle of red wine and a blazing fire, it could easily become a favourite in the darkness of the autumn." Review of 'Dragonfly' soundtrack by Helene Alexandra Aasen, Bergenpuls.no, October 2001.
"Beautifully subdued, tremulous vocals, a modest drum pattern and subtle guitar all gel to create a small thing of beauty," wrote Nik Moore in his Play Louder review of '2CU Shine.'
"A moving record," writes Sylvain Courtoux about 'Past Perfect Future Tense' in Pop News. "A string of potential hits."
In an Amazon.com listener review of 'Kryptonite,' Donna Wampach wrote, "Kryptonite is a must-listen for those looking for a bold, raw, and intimate music experience."
Martin Lenon wrote in The Scotsman that 'Past Perfect Future Tense' has "intelligent, dynamic and well-written tunes."
Also in The Scotsman, Andrew Eaton characterized 'Past Perfect Future Tense' as "lush, epic, folk-tinged rock, the biggest revelation being his singing voice. He’s no Morten Harket, certainly, but this works in his favour; it’s a rough-edged thing reminiscent of the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne, far from the slick crooning of today’s boy bands. Musically, we’re in the territory of Jeff Buckley, Radiohead and classic U2."
Selene Wendt writes, "In the seamlessly entwined work defined as Payne's Gray, Magne F's poetry is to the lyrics and the music what his texts are to the images and compositions. He navigates the challenging minefield of interdiscipinary rebelliousness, coming up with answers to questions most people never before considered, and then posing them anew just to keep us wondering. A wordsmith through and through, he knows how to hold a captive audience - in both his music and his artwork - by providing an antidote to seriousness with a good dose of humor and irreverence."
Taken from the Payne's Gray book.
quotes from magne
"'All music that's meaningful is pain-condensed and made into something you can relate to,' decides keyboardist Magne Furuholmen, as we settle into the band's smart West London hotel suite. 'Happy music makes me sad,' he laughs. 'It's like watching a Hollywood movie where you know the ending and (are) told what to feel.' The most garrulous member, he fails to see why so-called 'dark music' should make you feel depressed. Quite the opposite, in fact. 'People find consolation in the way that someone can articulate conflicting feelings and turn them into some sort of beauty,' he says. 'That's the attraction of Joy Division to me – their music's beautiful.'" From this Scotsman interview.
Speaking of the loss of his father at an early age: "I think that an emotional blow like this one can be really good for your creativity. That some of the greatest gifts you get in life are the ones that at first sight appear to be disasters. Gifts wrapped in disasters," Furuholmen says, and continues: "I know it's dangerous to say things like this, but my intention of saying it is to give young people who have experienced the same situation a feeling of that no matter how dramatic and serious things are, there may be something really rewarding at the other end, if you just manage to go through it. The gift my father gave to me was the freedom of not having to live in his shadow." Taken from Aftenposten, May 9, 2008.
"During a-ha's first round, I felt completely depleted as an artist, because I felt so contained. I can give so much more when I am feeling free." Radio interview with SWR3 Germany, April 28, 2002.
"I'm working in these fields, whether they be music, painting, sculpture, photography, writing or poetry - the more I can draw them together, the easier it is for me to have them cross-pollinate so I can examine the work from different angles," Magne tells Andrew Williams in a Metro 60-second interview.
In one of his MySpace blogs, Magne discusses one facet of his creative process. "Every book I read I mark every word or line that triggers something in me, and when I finish the book I write them all down in my notebook filed under 'lines from literature' so I know where they came from. A book that doesn't give me lines is not a good book...in my book."
In Andrew Eaton's 2004 article Art of Reinvention, Magne explains that he is energized by doing things outside his comfort zone. "'I like that idea of tripping yourself and forcing yourself to do stuff that you’re not good at,' explains Magne Furuholmen. 'It’s quite important as a way of progressing.'" Later in the article, Magne says, "We should never ever look back on the last tour and say ‘how can we do that again better?’" reasons Furuholmen. "We should rather say, ‘what changes can we make to make it more interesting?’ I like making things difficult. It keeps you on your toes a little bit."
"I am a serial artist. I like to work with many things at the same time. Walking among a dozen clay jars to be painted on makes me feel how I imagine a conductor must feel in front of an orchestra. It also gives me a stronger sense of being led by the work itself, because it reduces my field of vision until I see only the things that are important to me; things you see just before you look at something - or through the corner of your eye just as you look away...things you miss if you stare. Together they tell a different story than apart, because they talk about each other. And they start behaving differently too; one is a problem from the start, continuously nagging me for attention, another one stands patiently awaiting its turn, some are mute or even hide. It can take me the longest time to discover their particular qualities. Working in series allows me to concentrate on overall atmosphere and be less hung up, or less "idealistic" on behalf of the individual works, and to my mind they come out stronger for it - more themselves."
Taken from the FOCI catalog published in connection with the 2004 exhibit at the Lillehammer Kunstmuseum.