Contributions from 9 artists
SJÅ (to look / see)
SJÅ ( to look / see) is both a new artist’s book and an exhibition with contributions from 9 artists. SJÅ is put together manually in the art center during week 6, where it will be possible to follow the process in the gallery from the 9th of February. Exhibition ends 14th of March.Friday 12th and Saturday 13th of February, there will be a book launch and opening of the exhibition with a live program.
Live program at the book launch of SJÅ:
Friday 12.02 live program from kl 15. The gallery is open 11am to 5 pm.
Saturday 13.02 live program, performances from 1pm The gallery is open 11 am- 4 pm
Participating artists are: Johan Urban Bergquist, Sivert Bjørnerem, Yngvild Færøy, Geir Tore Holm, Søssa Jørgensen, Anne Brit Krag, Astrid Nordang, Kjetil Skøien, Siv Bugge Vatne
In connection with the exhibition, there will also be a wider selection of artist books on display.
The initiators of SJÅ are Johan U. Bergquist and Yngvild Færøy who also form the projects working group together with Anne Brit Krag. Johan Urban Bergquist is the curator of SJÅ.
Image top: “SJÅ”. bookcover.
“I swear it’s a dream – what else can it be, magic or what?” Mikhail Bulgakov
Art as a book – or artists´book is an art genre with a long tradition. In our digital age, the visual image is strong, at the same time as the book lives on – but perhaps in a different form? In the exhibition SJÅ you can experience the process, how to make books, the finished result and buy a copy to take home. By putting 9 artists with different artistic language side by side, you create new meaning and new contexts.
Everything is connected to everything.
We humans are connected to nature, we are animals, we are chemistry. 99% of the human body consists of the elements; oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus. In addition, the largest number of cells in a human body are not human cells, but bacteria found in a normal human gastrointestinal tract. Humans share 30% of DNA with the fungi. We are nature, and as nature we are dependent on nature, and each other, whether we want it or not. In these times of isolation and distance, it is recorded that people all over our planet experience having strange dreams. Often there are dark themes that recur, but the most important thing is perhaps that people dream more, ie actually remember their dreams more. Our dreams tell us something about ourselves, but they also tell us something about the times we live in. It is a known fact that many people reported catastrophic dreams in the time before the outbreak of World War II. Even if Jung´s concept of “the collective subconscious”, certainly can be questioned, I am no stranger to the idea, perhaps we humans are more connected than we are aware of. For the project SJÅ, we initially wanted works that express a playfulness, not to say that they cannot include serious themes and dark undertones, a lightweight expression can be a refined and effective way to convey a serious message, if that´s what you want. The idea is, that even if we have not really laid down any guidelines for what kind of work the participants should deliver, they works will fit together, make sense and create new meanings, when they are assembled with other people’s work in one publication.
Johan Urban Bergquist