The Moving Energy Theatre
University of Oslo + University of the Highlands and Islands
Biography
Miriam Sentler (she/her) is a visual artist and doctoral research fellow in Petroculture Studies at the University of Oslo (NO). During her Ph.D. within the interdisciplinary TOIL (Translatability of Oil) research group, she studies how Shetlanders utilize their creative culture to translate and oppose oil- and other energy production in the North Sea.
Introduction
In collaboration with The University of Highlands and Islands and under the supervision of Dr Antonia Thomas, Miriam conducted her interdisciplinary research project The Moving Energy Theatre in the context of the Shetland Islands.
During her 4-week research stay at UHI she conducted comparative background research in Orkney to map the visuality and materiality of energy production in the Scottish islands. Together with the TRANSECTS team from UHI, she discovered the archaeology and materiality of energy production in Orkney on a series of “energy tours” over the islands, visiting the oil terminal island of Flotta and the wind farms, next to experiencing the cutting of peat.
After concluding her experience-based background research in Orkney, Miriam started her art project The Moving Energy Theatre in Shetland, based on previously discovered archival material. Miriam selected a group of satirical performance acts about energy production that happened in Shetland in the last fifty years, using re-enactment to bring back and revive 8 selected “energy acts” from Shetland’s archives that took place in the local Up Helly Aa festival. For this purpose, costumes and props were recreated and placed back into the industrial environments the acts once spoke about, letting interactions around them unfold spontaneously.
TMET toured the Shetland Islands in June and July 2025 and will result in a publication, displaying interviews about energy in Shetland (conducted in collaboration with Daniel Shailer from the Shetland Times) and a series of photographs, made by Deep Time Agency i.c.w. Anna Tudos.
Research
Part I. Energy Tours in Orkney: Discovering the Materiality and Archaeology of Energy with the TRANSECTS team
Discovering the archaeology of wind energy with Dan Lee from the University of Highlands and Islands, Orkney Islands, May 2025.
Feeling, smelling, and tasting peat at the Kirkbuster Farm Museum, May 2025.
Cutting and transporting peat in Shetland, June 2025.
Discovering tidal energy and oil infrastructure around and on the island of Flotta in Orkney with the TRANSECTS research group, May 2025.
Part II. The Moving Energy Theatre in Shetland: bringing the costumes of the energy acts into the (post)industrial environments they spoke about.
Description of the Experience of Reenacting Small Fry in Oil, 1973, an energy act made about the protests of the fishermen in Scalloway against oil firm Shell:
“The smell of the sea and fish was very strong when we got out of the car at the Fishmarket in Scalloway. In our first location, taking on the fish costume myself was a rather absurd but also uncanny experience. I walked through the fishing nets that coloured beautiful with the shiny fish suit.”
Description of the Experience of Reenacting Ness Monstrosities, 1976, an energy act made about the proposal of storing oil in underground caverns:
“A location was found in the cave to photograph Nessie in: quite close to the sea in Nessie’s own humble opinion, but still far enough so the water of the waves could not reach her. Lights in the form of spotlights were shattered in between the wet and algae-overgrown rocks lying in the cave to create a dramatic lightning setting where Nessie could take her place in. The Nessie head came down through the hole in the ground, and Nessie’s photo shoot in her “home” could begin.”
Description of the Experience of Reenacting Shel(l)ties, 1978, an energy act made to ridicule the Shell logo as seen in television advertisements in the 1970s
“Sheltie goes to gas station, fills up the car, waves at people in passing cars. A truck driver honks. In the shop, the lady with pink hair is not too impressed. “I thought maybe I was hallucinating,” says one shopkeeper when Shelltie enters the shop. Customers entering the shop are in shock and keep their distance. I block the door with my big belly. The tankstation worker doesn’t know where her gas comes from, she just works the register. I squeeze myself in the car in the unruly costume, hear laughter from behind me.”
Description of the Experience of Reenacting BP Pigs 1979, an energy act made about Pipeline Inspection Gadgets (short: PIGS)
“Ten minutes from the Sullom Voe oil terminal, a small estate stands, originally built for the workers in the ‘70s. Nearby runs the Brent oil pipeline, delivering oil from the sea to the shore and the terminal. We got the tip about this place from a contact, but we weren’t sure what we were looking for – underwater or exposed pipes, signs, or signposts? During the day, only one person was walking the streets whom we could ask. She was a knowledgeable local, as she explained that she walks the surrounding area regularly, but she can’t think of any pipelines, certainly not oil.”
Description of the Experience of Reenacting WINDerful Lights, 1983, an energy act made about wind energy tests taking place in the most southern Fair Isle of Shetland
“I start at the heart of the Viking windfarm up in the hills of mainland Shetland, right off the A970, and park the car close to turbine N111, a name given when the plan still entailed 150 wind turbines. It’s a perfect day for windturbines. Windy but not too windy. The turbines rotate in a calm manner among a few clouds in the sky that cast their shadows on the hills between the turbines.”
Description of the Experience of Reenacting Da Freefield Arabs, 1983, an energy act made about the global transportation of oil
“I was in the costume in the back, and it was strange to talk to people about energy without seeing them. Following Anna’s camel feet in front of me was my only way of getting a sense of direction in the costume, and I heard people screaming in excitement around me: “Look, a camel!” and cars honking when crossing the zebra path, etcetera. I had to hunch my back with the foam on top of my head, making the bump, and it was quite uncomfortable – not possible to stay in it longer than 15 minutes or so at the time. I sometimes talked to people “from the back” and it was kind of interesting to talk to people about energy in that pose: a bit like bowing for the various opinions I got in the costume. “Oh, there is another person in there?” “Hello!” – what a strange way of communication it is, to speak from the backside of a camel.”
Description of the Experience of Reenacting Dales Voe Raiders, 1984, an energy act pairing the Viking-theme of the festival with the oil-platform supply- and decommissioning base Dales Voe in Shetland
“The oil supply harbour was surprisingly easy to access. I was trying to look into every corner, taking in the sight. There was so much to see, objects were lying around, which were possibly connected to the supporting industries of oil or gas, or possibly trash. There were some old boats, some floating markers, cable drums, a labyrinth of fences, byres and trucks. The mask is quite uncomfortable, pressing the plexiglass on the nose, and the goggles are painted black so you can’t really see out. My shield kept getting caught in the wind, I have no idea how real warriors dealt with this. I fit the landscape – everything in Shetland, from the janitorial services to the ferry, is labeled with Viking figures.”
Description of the Experience of Reenacting Sting in the Tail, 2003, an energy act about tidal energy experiments taking place in the Yell Sound in the north of the Shetland Islands
“On the Ferry between Yell and Unst, our group spread out as soon as we were parked on the car deck to find a good location for a photograph. We aimed to highlight the tidal energy generators, lying under the sea where we are crossing, at Bluemull sound and Cullivoe. The staff wasn’t surprised by our request to go up the stairs to the crew area. ‘You love letting people upstairs!’ said one of the young staff members to the female ferry worker we have been speaking to. In the wheelhouse, the captain welcomed us with a curious look. He recalled the Stingray TV show and looking at the costume said ‘You’re one of the badies!’. Indeed, aquaphobians sabotaged the generators in the act; we’re still unsure why. The captain thought they should be located a bit further north from where the ferry is passing, but we wouldn’t see them anyway, there are no buoys marking their presence on the water.”
Contact Miriam
Email: miriase@uio.no
