Halvard Damm Laupstad is a trainee from Sjiraffen Culture and Competence Center and is currently working in the artistic department at Rosendal Theater.

The project Nothing Special originates from a period when theater director Alexander would ask every Monday, “What have you been up to this weekend?”, and Halvard would always respond with the same answer: “Nothing special.”

This sparked curiosity. When you say you haven’t done anything special, what is behind that phrase? What have you actually done when you’ve done “nothing special”?

One of the things Halvard spends a lot of time on during weekends and his free time is watching funny animal videos on the internet. This is a significant part of both Halvard’s life, and many other people’s lives.

Funny animal videos are a staple of online entertainment, consistently drawing large audiences on various platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. Research even shows that watching animal videos can reduce stress levels.

Halvard is now turning this hobby into art with a project called Nothing Special, through a practice where he draws still images from the videos—specifically capturing the moment when the joke or humor in the video is revealed; the instant the video becomes funny.

Halvard works with ballpoint pen and felt tips pen, creating highly colorful drawings that add depth both as artworks and as documentation of the videos he watches.

We are now preparing for an exhibition set to take place in the fall of 2025, which will be unveiled at this year’s Bastard Festival. That’s why we invite everyone to send in their favorite funny animal videos and contribute to this artistic practice. Halvard Laupstad will personally select which videos are suitable for the project and will become part of the final artworks.

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