A minimalist exploration of voice, breath, and human connection across continents: this rare 2013 LP release documents an extraordinary sound art collaboration between Norwegian artist A.K. Dolven and American poet John Giorno, produced by Edition Block in Berlin. The 22-minute work represents a unique transatlantic dialogue that explores the fundamental properties of human communication through the sustained repetition of a single word: "ja," the Norwegian equivalent of "yes." A.K. Dolven (born 1953, Oslo) is one of Norway's most prominent contemporary artists, internationally recognized for her multidisciplinary practice spanning painting, film, sound, sculpture, and interventions in public space. Based between Oslo and the remote Lofoten Islands, Dolven's work consistently explores "the representation of natural forces and their deep resonance with human sensibilities." Her artistic practice "alternates between the monumental and the minimal, the universal and the intimate," with interpersonal relations and collaborations forming central themes throughout her extensive body of work.

John Giorno (1936-2019) was an American poet, performance artist, and cultural innovator who fundamentally transformed how poetry engaged with contemporary media and technology. Best known as the founder of Giorno Poetry Systems in 1965 and creator of the groundbreaking Dial-A-Poem project (1968), Giorno pioneered methods of distributing poetry through everyday technologies including telephone, radio, and vinyl records. His revolutionary approach sought to "push poetry off the printed page and into visual, musical, social, and political realms."

The collaboration arose from a meeting between the two artists in Lofoten, Norway, during summer 2011. Ja As Long As I Can operates as both sonic sculpture and performance document, with both artists uttering and varying the word "ja" for as long as their energy sustains, creating what curator Gaby Hartel describes as "different shades of colour, of energy and meaning." The work becomes a study of "the material qualities of the male and the female vocal cords in motion, and the many different emotional hues these qualities can transmit to the listener." The gendered dimensions of the voices - Dolven's more sensual and anxious articulations contrasting with Giorno's monotone and worn delivery - create a profound dialogue about communication, endurance, and human difference. The work demonstrates how "sound literally travels in time and space: from Norway to the East coast of the USA, from a female European visual artist in her fifties to a male, North American spoken word artist in his seventies."

The piece functions as an investigation into what Hartel terms "the human voice as the oldest instrument and medium of mankind." The repetitive structure allows listeners to perceive minute variations in breath, timing, emotional inflection, and cultural conditioning, creating "the perceptual effect of watching movements of two shadows" - disembodied presences made manifest through sound alone. For Dolven, the work continues her interest in "'soft' forms of expression" including "ambient sound, the sound of the human voice, movement, atmosphere, as well as the energies triggered by the interaction of humans with each other." For Giorno, the collaboration represented a continuation of his lifelong investigation into "electronic sensory poetry environments" and voice as sculptural material.

The vinyl format proves essential to the work's conceptual framework. As a sound installation, the piece requires "vinyl LP, record player, amplifier, loud speakers" with variable dimensions, allowing for site-specific presentations that emphasize the physical, mechanical aspects of sound reproduction. The analog medium connects the work to Giorno's long history with GPS Records, which released over 40 albums featuring avant-garde musicians and poets including Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Allen Ginsberg, and John Cage.

Ja As Long As I Can has been presented as both sound installation and live performance at prestigious venues including Rio Cinema in London, Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Hebbel-Theater in Berlin, and the National Museum in Oslo. The work was also invited for broadcasting by Deutschlandradio Kultur in 2013, demonstrating its significance within contemporary radio art and sound poetry movements.