Colour to the People by ATELIER LAUSTEN

Colour to the People published by Atelier Lausten ÂŠ 2008. Editor Dorte Lausten Graphic Design Sten Georg Photograhphs by Michael Bager, Geir Haukursson, Tim Kildeborg Jensen, Kim Wendt, Sten Georg and Dorte Lausten Text by Preben Winther Dorte Lausten Translations by Maja Sonne Georg Supported by Svendborg Kommune (IldsjĂŚlspatruljen) Painting as Design supported by Kunstfonden Printed at Svendborg Tryk ISBN-nr: 978-87-992712-0-7

COLOUR TO THE PEOPLE COLOUR TO THE PEOPLE COLOUR TO THE PEOPLE COLOUR TO THE PEOPLE COLOUR TO THE PEOPLE COLOUR TO THE PEOPLE COLOUR TO THE PEOPLE COLOUR TO THE

NETSUAL ETROD YB SGNITNIAPPAINTINGS BY DORTE LAUSTEN REHTNIW NEBERP YB NETTRW WRTTEN BY PREBEN WINTHER

Dorte Lausten in the Studio working on Painting as Design 2008

1 Dorte Lausten in the Studio 2008

PREFACE

forord

Driven by colour as her main creative axis, fuelled by an insatiable artistic curiosity, throughout the years Dorte Lausten has managed to create her own unique iconography and imagery. The artist has found her expression through the perfectionist’s clear contour lines, right angles and geometrically unique shapes, which is why the work allows itself to be understood as a form of ‘pure’ art, in which the decorative element takes centre stage, limiting the expressive qualities to choices of colour and the arrangement of colouristic and optical methods. Simplicity is important. For it is not an intellectual or distancing art Dorte Lausten wishes to create and we are not faced by anything inaccessible. Quite the contrary. When we are confronted by her paintings, objects and installations, we find ourselves invited to a meeting, which is suddenly and unnoticeably turned interpersonal, into a form of shared experience. Play and humour becomes apparent and not least the excitement expressed within the works, which falls somewhere between childish spontaneity and something deeply serious.

Med farven som sit store, altoverskyggende omdrejningspunkt og en forslugen kunstnerisk nysgerrighed som drivkraft har Dorte Lausten gennem årene formået at opbygge sin helt egen ikonografi og billedverden. Kunstneren har fundet sit udtryk gennem perfektionistisk klare konturlinier, rette vinkler og geometrisk uangribelige former, og derfor lader værket sig opfatte som en form for ’ren’ kunst, hvor det dekorative element har hovedrollen, mens det ekspressive begrænser sig til farvevalget og tilrettelæggelsen af koloristiske og optiske greb. Enkelheden er vigtig. For det er ikke en intellektuel eller distancerende kunst, Dorte Lausten vil, og det er ikke noget utilgængeligt, vi stilles overfor. Tværtimod. Når vi konfronteres med hendes malerier, objekter og installationer oplever vi os inviteret til at deltage i et møde der pludselig og umærkeligt bliver interpersonelt, en slags fælles anliggende. Legen, humoren, slår igennem, og ikke mindst den begejstring, som værkerne udsiger, og som lander et sted mellem barnlig umiddelbarhed og dyb seriøsitet.

But it is only at a casual glance that all seems uncomplicated and straightforward. Dorte Lausten is more subtle than that. This is fortunate, for as always it is past the first, blinding surprise, in the following deeper analysis that the inherent

Men det er kun i den overfladiske betragtning at det hele virker ikke-komplekst og ligetil. Dorte Lausten er mere subtil end som så. Heldigvis. For som altid er det på den anden side af den første forblændede overraskelse, i det efterfølgende seje træk, at en kunstners iboende kvaliteter skal stå deres prøve. Under overfladen rummer værkerne utallige

qualities of an artist will be truly tested. Under the surface the works contain numerous connotations and levels of meanings – the results of years of systematic and analytical pursuits. The colours are all carriers of something. A mood. A smell. An impression. A memory. Happiness or sorrow. A beloved face. Rhapsody in Blue, Weisser Hollunder, Den Knaldrøde Gummibåd, anything. Colours do something, want something and Dorte Lausten wants something with colours. Explore them. Examine them. A thousand questions present themselves; can they get along or will they argue – and maybe disagree so much that it becomes beneficial and may present new aspects? How far can they be played off against one another and what will the effects be? How does one distinguish between real and experienced colour? And last but not least the conundrum: Which ideas are caused by the colours and which ideas are they themselves a result of? How much can the colours carry – and what should carry them? But it is not only Dorte Lausten’s palette that is manifold. Her fan of genres is also widely spread. Taking her original starting point in something a traditional as a stretched canvas she has continued to push her personal limits as well as the boundaries of art, working with ‘traditional’ paintings, painting-design, 3-D objects, the fictive utility of art and alternative forms of socialising. Most recently with painting-as-design. She also wishes to leave the two-dimensionality behind her and make it burst its frames, bringing it down from the wall, concretely and figuratively, in order to take over the existing room, positively playing with it and changing the experience of its functionality. The work should – through its composition of colour and/or by virtue of its own symbolic or factual usability – influence the human activities taking place in the room.

konnotationer og betydningslag – resultater af årelange systematiske og analytiske bestræbelser. Farver er bærere af noget. En stemning. En duft. En forestilling. En erindring. Glæde eller sorg. Et elsket ansigt. Rhapsody in Blue, Weisser Hollunder, Den knaldrøde gummibåd, whatever. Farver gør noget, vil noget, og Dorte Lausten vil noget med farver. Udforske dem. Undersøge dem. Tusind spørgsmål melder sig. Kan de sammen, eller bliver de uvenner – og måske så meget uvenner, at det er givende og kan bidrage med nye aspekter? Hvor meget kan de spændes op imod hinanden, og hvad bevirker det? Hvor går grænserne mellem de faktisk sete og de oplevede farver? Og endelig de ikke mindst vigtige problematikker: Hvilke idéer afføder farverne, og hvilke idéer afføder dem? Hvor meget kan farverne bære – og hvad skal bære dem? For det er ikke bare Dorte Laustens palet der er mangfoldig. Også hendes vifte af genrer er vidt forgrenet. Med sit oprindelige afsæt i noget så klassisk som lærred på blindramme har hun uafladeligt bestræbt sig på at udvide såvel sine egne som kunstens grænser, og hun arbejder både med ’traditionelt’ maleri, maleri-design, 3-D objekter, kunstværkers fiktive anvendelighed, alternative samværsformer. Senest også med painting-as-design. Hun vil lægge værkets to-dimensionalitet bag sig og få det til at sprænge sine rammer, så det både i overført og konkret forstand kommer ud fra og ned fra væggen og bemægtiger sig det omgivende rum, positivt spiller sammen med det og ændrer oplevelsen af dets funktionalitet. Værket skal - qua sin farvesætning og/eller i kraft af sin egen symbolske eller faktiske brugbarhed - påvirke de menneskelige gøremål, der finder sted i rummet.

These themes occasionally find very discreet expressions. A suite of paintings might reveal itself as a row of scenes, in which the emotional overtones of the colour interacting with the spectator’s collection of expectations and memories are the only performer(s). Or a stylised set design may have found its way to the floor as a set piece – if not an actual arch, a gate has arisen, tight and ready, but attached to millennia of historical references and allusions. The paintings or objects might be place-specific, created for previously specified rooms. The in-situ works may take upon them the character of for instance shelves, bookcases or small chest of drawers, but without having any other function than to influence through their presence (“Sanitary Units”, “Advanced Management Box Systems”).

Disse temaer finder til tider ganske diskrete udtryk. En suite af malerier kan afsløre sig som en række scenerum, hvor farvens indebyrd af følelsesmæssige overtoner i samspil med beskuerens bagage af forestillinger og erindringer er de(n) eneste agerende. Eller en stiliseret scenografi kan have fundet vej ud på gulvet som sætstykker - hvis ikke en egentlig bue, en port har rejst sig, stram og klar, men behæftet med årtusinders historiske henvisninger og allusioner. Malerierne eller objekterne kan være stedsspecifikke, skabt til allerede givne rum. In situ-værkerne kan påberåbe sig karakter af f.eks. hylder, reoler eller små kommoder, uden dog at have andre funktioner end det at påvirke ved deres tilstedeværelse (”Sanitary Units”, ”Advanced Management Box Systems”).

Finally a project, which has been underway for a long time, is finding its shape where the boundaries between art and design are also explored. Dorte Laursen has created a row of modules, whose function, with the aid of specifically developed assembly polygons, can be altered to form a table, bed or chair or might be hung on a wall as decoration, as a picture.

Endelig er et projekt, der har været længe undervejs, ved at finde sin form, i hvilket også grænserne mellem kunst og design forsøges udfordret. Dorte Lausten har skabt en række plademoduler, hvis funktion ved hjælp af specielt udviklede samlepolygoner kan ændres, så de kan udgøre bord, seng og stol eller kan hænges op på væggen som dekoration, som billede.

No artist creates original works out of thin air and their own talent. All carry in themselves a more of less recognised vocabulary of experiences, other people’s works and an inescapable tradition. Sampling is commonly accepted as the logical child of (post)modernity. Dorte Lausten’s sources of inspiration are very varied, in both time and geography, from the antique periods of our culture to modern minimalists such as Donald Judd, Frank Stella, Mary Heilmann and Richard Artschwager. But parallels can also be drawn to the intentions of Bauhaus Schools and later great designers, of creating unities and new starting points for human everyday life. Not

Ingen kunstner skaber originale værker bare ud af den blå luft og sit eget talent. Alle bærer i sig et mere eller mindre erkendt vokabularium af oplevelser, andres værker og en traditions uafrystelighed. Sampling er alment accepteret som et selvfølgeligt barn af (post)moderniteten. Dorte Laustens inspirationskilder er meget forskelligartede, såvel i tid som geografisk, fra vor kulturs antikke perioder til moderne amerikanske minimalister som Donald Judd, Frank Stella, Mary Heilmann og Richard Artschwager. Men der kan også drages paralleller til Bauhausskolens og senere store designeres intentioner om at skabe helheder og nye afsæt for

least Verner Panton and his view on colour has influenced Dorte Lausten’s approach.

menneskers dagligdag. Ikke mindst Verner Panton og hans farvesyn har betydet meget for Dorte Lausten.

The very personal in her expression becomes increasingly more pronounced. Her efforts are starting to manifest themselves as a piece of uninterrupted, intensive work of – and in constant search for – an almost all-encompassing aestheticphilosophical view. The steering may be strict, but at the same time the artistic drive is receptive to all kinds of impulses. Thus the artist’s approach is balancing on a knife’s edge between the very conscious and the intuitive. Her goal is to find different approaches to life and art. To create works and rooms where different rules apply, ultimately in order to form part of the creation of the tradition whose goal has been and still is a deeper and more qualitative existence.

Det helt personlige i hendes udtryk bliver stedse mere markant. Hendes indsats tegner sig som et stykke ubrudt, intensivt arbejde ud fra - og i en bestandig søgen efter - en nærmest altomfattende æstetisk-filosofisk anskuelse. Styringen er nok stram, men det kunstneriske drive er samtidig modtageligt over for allehånde impulser. Således balancerer kunstnerens tilgang på en knivsæg mellem det meget bevidste og det intuitive. Hendes mål er at finde anderledes indgange til livet og kunsten. Skabe værker og rum, hvor helt andre regler gælder, givetvis for i sidste ende at være medskabende på den tradition, hvis mål har været og stadig er en dybere og mere kvalitativ væren.

Dorte Lausten’s works are open to theoretical readings but do not necessitate interpretations. Quite the contrary. It is far more important to experience them, enter them and allow them to form part of you.

Dorte Laustens værker er åbne for teoretiske udlægninger, men kræver ikke fortolkning for enhver pris. Tværtom. Det er langt vigtigere at opleve dem, gå ind i dem og lade dem tage bolig i sig.

Colour To The People is partly build up as a retrospective and partly forms a chronological slice through the artist’s oeuvre. Comparative detours across exhibitions and sources of inspiration soften the strict structure of her works. A kind of colour of the book in that way too.

Colour To The People er på sæt og vis opbygget som et retrospektivt og til dels kronologisk snit ned gennem kunstnerens oeuvre. Med sammenlignende afstikkere på tværs, eller til udstillinger, inspirationskilder og andet, der kan opbløde den strenge struktur. En slags bogens farve, også på dén led.

WALL AFTER WALL

Blue Meander Painting 2006 Acrylic on Canvas 150 x 150

The Beginning The Travels the young impressions the first traces wideopen pores eyes sense life itself The Colours murals in Pompeii renaissance Florence The Classic Arches-

Inspiration from wall paintings in Pompeii

Inspiration from walls in Florence, Italy

And behold how it suddenly grows forth and up Wall after wall colours in new use new interpretation colours to explain what she wants

A disguised meander pattern in close-up an approach a microscope on its history its origin itself

The Doors The mighty gates the painted plates report the reliefs surge forth the row of elements reminiscing antique Rome and contemporary present The Doors The mighty gates like entrance to a road in a line of traces set out millennia ago still passable

The Green Door 1998 Oil on canvas 220 x 80

Floating between then and now all roads roaringly open The doors of history the mighty gates of the present

Inspiration from a Roman painting, Pompeii

Starten Rejserne de unge indtryk de første spor vidtåbne porer øjne sanser livet selv Farverne vægmalerierne i Pompeji renæssance Firenze De klassiske buer –

The Doors 1998 Oil on canvas 220 x 80 / 220 x 80

Og se hvordan det pludselig vokser frem og op Væg efter væg farverne i ny brug ny fortolkning farverne der kan fortælle dét hun vil Dørene De vældige porte de malede plader melder sig reliefferne myldrer frem rækken af elementer med mindelser om det antikke Rom og nutidig nutid Dørene De vældige porte som indgang til en vej en række spor afstukket for årtusinder siden stadig farbare

En forklædt mæanderbort i close-up en tilnærmelse et mikroskop på sin historie sit ophav sig selv Svævende imellem dengang og nu alle veje brølende åbne Historiens døre nutidens vældige porte

Painting after Nero’s House 1999 Oil on canvas 240 x 40

Inspiration from a Triumphal Arch

Paintings in Galleri DKU, Odense 1998

Triumphical Arch Painting 1998 Oil on canvas 240 x 80 / 30 x 80 / 240 x 80

Triumphal Arch Painting 1998 details form previous page

Wall after Wall 1998 Acrylic on canvas 400 x 430

Detail from Wall after Wall

After Wall Painting 1999 Acrylic/Oil on canvas 400 x 240

Orange Meander Painting 2006 Acrylic on canvas 150x 150

-d paintings with a fictive function

Kitchen Units #1-5 2001 To provide domestic cooking Metallic/Oil/Acrylic on canvas 20x 40 / 40x 40 / 40x 25 / 40x 40 /40x 50 /40x 60

At a theatre the set design is created for its purpose; a ballet, an opera, a comedy. More specifically the stage area must naturally also play up to a concrete ballet, opera, etc. Finally the setting for the performance must also be appropriate for the time period. Whether it be ”Aida”, ”Swan Lake”, ”Hamlet” or something entirely different the back drop, set design, costumes and light design must enter into a dialogue with both the intensions of the piece and the contemporary interpretations of these. Actually a very complex process.

På et teater skabes scenografien efter sit formål – en ballet, en opera, et drama, en komedie. Mere specifikt skal scenerummet naturligvis også spille op til en konkret ballet, opera etc. Endelig skal rammen for opførelsen afstemmes efter sin tid. Uanset om det drejer sig om ”Aïda”, ”Svanesøen”, ”Hamlet” eller noget helt syvende skal bagtæppe, sætstykker, kostumer og belysning gå i dialog med både stykkets intentioner og med nutidens fortolkning af dem. Faktisk en yderst kompleks proces.

But it is not only at a theatre that a performance runs across stage. In every room performances take place. Not in a theatrical way, but rather as an expression of ordinary, for instance working, everyday life. An office. A conference room. An auditorium. Each created for and imbued with their specific functionality. Dorte Lausten has created many place-specific works, a form of 3-dimensional and complete decorations. She’s aware that the looks, decorations and environment of a room can influence the processes taking place in it and the interpersonal relations taking place within its sphere of influence. A book case, a shelf, some cupboard modules do not need to be useable as such. Their purpose and justification for existence may be justified solely by their pure psychological-perceptual contents, from their fictive function.

Men det er ikke kun på teatret, at en forestilling løber over scenen. I ethvert rum finder opførelser sted. Ikke i teatralsk betydning, men som udtryk for en almindelig, f.eks. arbejdsmæssig hverdag. Et kontor. Et konferencelokale. Et auditorium. Hver især er de skabt til og har deres helt egen funktionalitet. Dorte Lausten har skabt mange stedsspecifikke værker, en art tre-dimensionelle totaludsmykninger. Hun er overbevist om, at et rums udseende, farvesætning og miljø kan påvirke de processer, der foregår i det og de mellemmenneskelige relationer, der finder sted inden for dets påvirkningsfelt. En bogkasse, en hylde, nogle skabsmoduler behøver ikke at kunne bruges til noget - som sådan. Deres formål og eksistensberettigelse kan begrundes alene ud fra deres rent psykologisk-perceptuelle indebyrd. Ud fra deres fiktive funktion.

To create a room where completely different rules apply…

At skabe et rum, hvor helt andre regler gælder…

Kitchen Units #1-5 2001 To provide domestic cooking Metallic/Oil/Acrylic on canvas 20x 40 / 40x 40 / 40x 25 / 40x 40 /40x 50 /40x 60

Backup Box 2001 Generate lost data. To be placed near your writing desk. Able to send back lost signals. Metallic/Oil on canvas 40x 40 / 40x 80

Hi-Fi Club 2001 To improve the acoustics Metallic/Oil/Acrylic on canvas 15x 200 / 15x 180 / 15x 15 / 15x 15

Inspiration from Donald Judd #1-3

AMB-Systems 2001 Advanced Management Box Systems to provide better leadership Metallic/Oil/Acrylic on canvas 15x 40 / 15x 100 / 15x 120 / 15x 180 /15x 200

Sanitary Units #1-3 2001 Metallic/Oil/Acrylic on canvas 20x 40 / 40x 40 / 40x 25 / 40x 40 /40x 50 /40x 60

Satellite 2001 Transfer signals to the Earth Metallic/Oil/Acrylic on canvas Many sizes

The French author Voltaire once said that nothing in this world is as necessary as the unnecessary. By which he must have meant that in this life there must also be room for the superfluous, the items that have no practical value. Because it makes you grow as a person, it makes you expand your emotional and intellectual area of work. Had he been alive today and able to decipher Dorte Lausten’s consciously ambiguous aesthetics he would have loved her furniture, modules and paintings, which are not what one might suppose them to be but rather a bit of everything. In which play and a deeply serious approach to life dance with one another.

Den franske forfatter Voltaire skal engang have udtalt, at intet i denne verden er så nødvendigt som det unyttige. Hvormed han må have ment, at der i tilværelsen også skal være plads til det overflødige, den lille luksus det er at give sig af med ting, der ikke har nogen praktisk nytteværdi. Fordi man som menneske vokser ved det, udvider sit følelses- og tankemæssige virkefelt. Hvis han havde levet i dag og havde kunnet dechifrere Dorte Laustens bevidst tvetungede æstetik, ville han garanteret have elsket hendes møbler, moduler og billeder, der ikke er nogen af delene og lidt af det hele, og hvor legen og en dybt seriøs forholden sig til livet danser med hinanden.

Collecting colours in France

installation with paintings

Collecting colours from Istanbul

Children love bright colours and are supported in doing so. But once adult, trained and taste conscious, one often has a different opinion. Then colours might be perceived as mere distractions. Dorte Lausten wishes to oppose and disprove this outrageous notion. To her, colours add an extra dimension which heightens the experience. Yes, colours are one of the cornerstones of her art.

Børn er glade for stærke farver, og bliver understøttet i at være det. Men når man først er blevet voksen, afrettet og smagsbevidst, ser man ofte anderledes på det. Så kan farver opleves som et element, der forstyrrer det egentlige. Dorte Lausten vil modarbejde og modbevise denne uhyrlighed. Farver er for hende en ekstra dimension til forøgelse af oplevelsen. Ja, farver er én af hovedhjørnestenene i hendes kunst.

She wants her works to do more than be something. She wants them to do something. Influence the spectator or user. Affect their state of mind. The company of her art should be experienced as conscious altering, conscious expanding, experience strengthening. She is exploring the influences caused by the play between colour and shape. How subtle a change is required before the experience is altered?

Hun ønsker, at hendes værker ikke bare er noget. Hun vil have, at de gør noget. Påvirker beskueren eller brugeren. Influerer på sindstilstanden. Samværet med hendes kunst skal opleves som bevidsthedsændrende, bevidsthedsudvidende, oplevelsesforstærkende. Hun afsøger de virkninger, der kan ligge i farverne i samspil med former. Hvor små forskelle skal der til, før man oplever anderledes?

Unstacked 2001 Oil/Acrylic/Metallic on canvas Various dimensions

Piles 2001 Oil/Acrylic/Metallic on canvas Various dimensions A feeble Affair 2000 Acrylic on canvas and and carpet

American Newspaper Stands 2000 Acrylic on canvas Various dimensions

Floor Space 2000 Metallic on canvas 40 x 40/40 x 80/40 x 120/40 x 40/ 40 x 80/40 x 120

Satelite 2000 Acrylic/Oil/Metallic on canvas and giant nails 400 x 400/80 x 160

The paintings can appear 3-dimensional. The unexpected overwhelms. An installation, which signals spaciousness by its title, is made up of plain coloured surfaces placed flat on the floor, surrounding a structural post. The disparity inherent in the signals of the work sets new elements into motion. Rows of low piles of flawless, brightly coloured plates are positively confusing. We think perhaps of a store hall. We see a piece of art, which has yet to be hung up, or…? The symmetry is broken by its own perfection because we expect something else. Next to this we are confronted by a pile of similar plates, apparently randomly thrown on the floor. A wordless tale is given a voice. How do we experience the difference between symmetry and coincidence? What do the works do to us? And how are we affected by the many colours?

Malerier kan træde i karakter som tre-dimensionelle. Det uventede overrumpler. En installation, der med sin titel signalerer rumlighed, består af ensfarvede flader, placeret fladt på gulvet omkring en bærende stolpe. Den disparathed, der ligger i værkets signaler, sætter nye ting i spil. En række lave stabler af formfuldendte kulørte plader forvirrer positivt. Vi tænker på en lagerhal. Vi ser et kunstværk, der ikke er sat op endnu, eller…? Systematikken bliver brudt ved sin egen perfektion, fordi vi forventer noget andet. Ved siden af konfronteres vi med en rodebunke af lignende plader, tilsyneladende smidt hulter til bulter på gulvet. En ordløs fortælling får mæle. Hvordan oplever vi forskellen på systematik og tilfældighed? Hvad gør værkerne ved os? Og hvordan påvirker de mange farver os?

A subtle change in a large, well organised patterned can be experienced as a dramatic break of an order we might not understand, but which signifies safety. The break, the incorrectness, the pale, green plate, which has only been lifted slightly on one side, becomes almost unbearably challenging. The work is called “Satellite”. And yes, we are thrown into space. Which space, by the way?

En uanselig ændring i et stort, vel tilrettelagt mønster kan opleves som et voldsomt brud på en orden, vi måske ikke forstår, men som ubevidst signalerede tryghed. Bruddet, forkertheden, den bleggrønne plade, der blot er løftet en smule i den ene ende, bliver næsten ubærligt udfordrende. Værket hedder ”Satelite”. Og ja, vi slynges ud i rummet. Hvilket rum, for resten?

With her installations Dorte Lausten improves the experiential value of her surroundings because she allows the full architecture and atmosphere of the physical room to be heard. Not directly, but via the composition of shapes she allows to form part of the works.

Dorte Laustens forøger med sine installationer omgivelsernes oplevelsesmæssige værdi, fordi hun lader hele det fysiske rums arkitektur og stemning komme til orde. Ikke direkte, men qua den farve- og formsammenstilling, hun vælger at lade indgå i værkerne.

Inspiration from France

Space under consideration 2001 Oil/Acrylic on canvas 160x 80/160x 80/160x 80/160x 80

Inspiration from Donald Judd

Painting after Donald Judd #2 2000 Oil/Acrylic/Metallic on canvas 80x 45/80x 100/45x 100/80x 100/45x 100 15x 45/15x 45/15x 45/15x 45/15x 45/15x 45/15x 45

Painting after Donald Judd #1 2000 Oil/Acrylic/Metallic on canvas 80x 45/80x 30/80x 20/80x 30/80x 45

The Chest of Drawers Painting 1998 Furniture and painting has to match. From the exhibition IdĂŠnyt Oil on canvas 80x 45/80x 100/45x 100/80x 100/45x 100

The Projector Painting 1998 Furniture and painting has to match. From the exhibition IdĂŠnyt Acrylic on canvas 200x 200

The Chair Upholstry Painting 1998 Furniture and painting has to match. From the exhibition IdĂŠnyt Acrylic on canvas 150x 150

Colour to Fit a purpose

Panorama 2000 Oil/Acrylic on canvas 80x 900

Emboss Area 2001 Oil/Acrylic/Metallic on canvas Various dimensions

Flags 2002 Oil/Acrylic/Metallic on canvas Various dimensions

The green exam table – easy now! The red apple – presumed more delicious than the yellow – unless of course it is full of poison as in the fairy tale! Girl tread carefully, as the stage is sloped / the sky is painted and not blue at all… nothing is what it seems. Nothing is the way we assume it to be; it is the fault of the colours. Or rather: the way we experience them.

Det grønne eksamensbord - ro på! Det røde æble – formodes at være mere lækkert end det gule – med mindre da, at det er fyldt med gift som i eventyret! Pige træd varsomt, thi scenen er skrå / himlen er malet og slet ikke blå… intet er, hvad det giver sig ud for at være. Intet er, som vi tror det er. Det er farvernes skyld. Eller rettere: vores oplevelse af dem.

One colour can change the scene. For a particular scene. For a room. For half a life. Dorte Lausten knows this. She wants to enter into a dialogue with them. Again and again she enters the land of colours and returns clear-sighted, better equipped to effectively dazzle her audience.

Én farve kan ændre scenen. For et bestemt optrin. For et rum. For et halvt liv. Det véd Dorte Lausten. Hun vil dialogen med dem. Igen og igen går hun ind i farvernes land og vender klarsynet tilbage, for des mere virkningsfuldt at kunne forblænde sit publikum.

Dorte Lausten seems so focused in her goal and expression that the inherent tension and expressive charges of the works are experienced violently and surprisingly. As if there wasn’t cause for exactly that spectator reaction.

Dorte Lausten syner så afklaret i mål og udtryk, at værkernes spændinger og ekspressive udladninger opleves voldsomt og overrumplende. Som om der ikke var belæg for netop dén reaktion hos beskueren.

Power Point #1 2003 Acrylic on canvas 150x 150

Power Point #3 2003 Acrylic on canvas 150x 150

Spam Fighter #1 2006 Acrylic on canvas 130x 130

Spam Fighter #2 2006 Acrylic on canvas 130x 130

Production Promoter 2003 Acrylic on canvas 120x 120

Conversation Promoter 2003 Acrylic on canvas 120x 120

A square canvas with four rectangles and four squares. Lines, angles, areas, overwhelmingly perfected. Pink drawn up against dusty yellow and orange. Two neighbouring surfaces, both red, are similar that their difference pains a bit. Two uneven blue fields and one grass green. Exactly in the area where grass green meets rosé and the wrong yellow a sharp, dark green and been sprayed on. Apparently unmotivated. The resolving tactlessness of this controlled coincidence lends the rest of the picture the meaning it was screaming for before this smudge. Not a meaning to be expressed or understood with words, but something left as aesthetic stigmata. The picture next to it only has its immaculate rectangles and squares. Four of each, Ordnung muss sein in other colours. No spray-painted blemish. And this lack of imperfections also imbues this painting with a form of meaning and experienced logic. A sort of artistic goal: To refurbish perceptual standards.

Et kvadratisk lærred med fire rektangler og fire kvadrater. Ingen slinger i valsen. Linieføring, vinkler, arealer, perfektioneret til overmål. Lyserød står mod smudsiggul og orange. To naboflader, begge røde, der ligger så tæt på hinanden, at deres forskellighed smerter lidt. To umage blå felter og et græsgrønt. Netop i det område, hvor græsgrønt møder rosa og den forkert gule, er der spray’et med en skarp mørkegrøn. Tilsyneladende umotiveret. Denne styrede tilfældigheds forløsende taktløshed giver resten af maleriet den mening, det skreg på, inden pletten. Ikke en mening, der kan udtrykkes og forstås i ord, men som står der som et æterisk stigmata. Billedet ved siden af har kun sine ulastelige rektangler og kvadrater. Fire af hver, Ordnung muss sein, i andre kulører. Ingen spraymalingsplet. Derfor forlener manglen på forkerthed også dette andet maleri med en slags mening og oplevelig selvfølgelighed. En slags formål med kunst: Ommøblering af perceptionelle standarder.

Inspiring Canvas 2006 Acrylic on canvas 120x 120

Optimistic Canvas 2006 Acrylic on canvas 120x 120

Inspiration from Verner Panton

Energetic Canvas #1 2006 Acrylic on canvas 120x 120

Energetic Canvas #2 2006 Acrylic on canvas 120x 120

Visionary Canvas 2006 Acrylic on canvas 120x 120

Intuitive Canvas 2006 Acrylic on canvas 120x 120

Promising Canvas 2006 Acrylic on canvas 120x 120

Visionary Canvas 2006 Acrylic on canvas 120x 120

All colours, with their traditional spectre of emotions and added mood patterns, help create a particular scenario for any new experience. Within the last few years Dorte Laursen has created several brightly colouristic series of pictures in which a scenic icon can be sensed as the basis for further processes. In the individual paintings, on the basis of one main colour, covering the large midfield, a square, the individual colours’ inherent qualities are played out and up against one another. But the stage is empty. Filling it is left up to the spectator’s interaction with the work. Hints can occasionally be sought in a title: “Optimistic Canvas”. ”Intuitive Canvas”. Inspiring Canvas”. “Promising Canvas”. What expectations can the conjunction of a colour and a word create?

Alle farver er med deres traditionelle følelsesregistre og tillagte stemningsmønstre med til at skabe et bestemt scenarium for enhver ny oplevelse. Inden for de senere år har Dorte Lausten skabt flere stærkt koloristiske billedserier, hvor et scenisk ikon fornemmes som afsæt og basis for den videre proces. På baggrund af én hovedkulør, der dækker det store midterfelt, et kvadrat, spilles i de enkelte malerier farvernes iboende egenskaber op og ud mod hinanden. Men scenen er tom. At fylde den ud er op til beskueren i sit mellemværende med værket. Hints kan ind imellem søges i en titel: ”Optimistic Canvas”. ”Intuitive Canvas”. Inspiring Canvas”. Promising Canvas”. Hvad kan en farve og et ord i fællig skabe af forestillinger?

Untitled 2006 Acrylic on canvas 120x 120

Exhibition ”Notes on Color”, 2006

Notes on colour

Inspiration from a Greek Amphitheatre

Theatre Painting 1996 Acrylic on canvas 200x 200

Colour lies at the limit of the object…

Colour is suited to simple races, peasants and savages.

Farve ligger ved genstandens grænse.

Farve passer til simple racer, bønder og vildmænd.

Aristoteles I collect colours

le Corbusier

Collecting colours in the streets of N.Y.

Colour… is a kind of bliss. Farve...er en form for lykke.

rolAnD bArthes

Colour is new each time. Farve er ny hver gang.

rolAnD bArthes

Colour is like a closing eyelid, a tint fainting spell.

Farve er ligesom at lukke øjet, en svag, hensygnende fortryllelse. rolAnD bArhes

Colour is single… Farve er ene...

Colour must be thought, imagined, dreamed… Farve må tænkes, forestilles, drømmes...

gustAv MoreAu

WAlther benJAMin

Colour is only a lady-inwaiting, because all she does is to make still more attractive the true perfections of art. Farve er kun en hofdame, for alt hvad hun opnår er at gøre kunstens sande fuldkommenghed endnu mere tiltrækkende.

ingres

In kindergarten children learn to use and love colours. Later on in life, they learn something called style. For most people this means avoiding colours.

I børnehaven lærer børn at bruge og elske farver. Senere i livet, lærer de noget, der kaldes smag. Det betyder for de fleste, at undgå farver. verner pAnton

Notes on colour Colour must be seen.

Farve må ses.

WAlter benJAMin

Colour to continue had to occur in space.

For at kunne fortsætte måtte farve ske i rummet

Collecting colours in New York

DonAlD JuDD

Colour [is] indulged in by communities where brain was subordinated to muscle. Farve hengiver man sig til i samfund, hvor hjerne blev underlagt muskler.

bernArD berenson

Colour deceives continuously. Farve bedrager konstant.

Joseph Albers

Colour is an illusion, but not an unfounded illusion.

Farve er en illusion, men ikke en ubegrundet illusion.

Colour exists in itself, has its own beauty.

Farve eksisterer i sig selv, har sin egen skønhed. henri MAtisse

Cl hArDing

Colour can appear an unthinkable scandal.

Farve kan virke som en ufattelig skandale. stephen Melville

Collecting colours in the streets of N.Y.

Green Panel 2006 Acrylic on canvas 100x 100

Mossy Green Panel 2006 Acrylic on canvas 100x 100

Dark Purple Panel 2006 Acrylic on canvas 100x 100

Light Blue Panel 2006 Acrylic on canvas 100x 100

Inspiration from a scene, Moscow

Collecting colours in the streets of N.Y.

Blue Panel 2006 Acrylic on canvas 100x 100

Light Green Panel 2006 Acrylic on canvas 100x 100

Collecting colours in the streets of N.Y.

Ultramarine Panel 2006 Acrylic on canvas 100x 100

Bordeaux Panel 2006 Acrylic on canvas 100x 100

Orange Panel 2006 Acrylic on canvas 100x 100

Yellow Panel 2006 Acrylic on canvas 100x 100

Colours can touch deeper than infatuation and love. Colours can become a passion. A condition of life. Like sun and water are necessary ingredients in the photosynthesis of a plant, it’s growth, flowering and growing of fruit, colours act like a catalyst in the experience cycle of art. For practicing artists as well as spectators. For Dorte Lausten colours are life’s greatest playground, but also an ever present laboratory for new experiences, ideas and creations.

Farver kan ramme dybere end betagelse og forelskelse. Farver kan blive en passion. Et livsvilkår. Som sol og vand er nødvendige ingredienser i en plantes fotosyntese, for dens trivsel, blomstring og frugtsætning, er farver en katalysator i kunstens oplevelsescyklus. Uanset om man er udøvende eller beskuer. For Dorte Lausten er farverne livets og verdens største legeplads og tivoli, men også et altid tilstedeværende laboratorium for nye oplevelser, nye idéer, ny skabelse.

When I pick a colour it is not as the result of any scientific theory. It comes from observation, intuition and the inner nature of the experience in question, Henri Matisse is said to have stated. Is this not the way a colour-lost artist behaves?

Når jeg vælger en farve, er det ikke på grund af nogen videnskabelig teori. Den kommer af iagttagelse, af fornemmelse og af den pågældende oplevelses indre natur, skal Henri Matisse have udtalt. Er det ikke altid sådan, en farvefortabt kunstner gebærder sig?

The theatre, stage as idea and factuality, has always held a fascination for Dorte Laursen. Ancient Greek theatre is etched in her mind and has often found its way into her work. In the beginning very literally, causing fragments of a stylized amphitheatre to appear in paintings, more recently as abstract references in 3dimensional painting-installations, in which colours play a greater part.

Theatre Painting, 2000 Acrylic/Oil on canvas Various sizes

Whilst out travelling, Dorte Lausten experiences a row of unmatched post boxes – different shapes, and one is red, one green, whilst the others are pale yellow, light blue, and purple. And they are inescapably brought home, like sweet pinpricks

Teatret, scenen som begreb og faktualitet, har altid fascineret Dorte Lausten. Antikkens græske teatre står ætset ind i hendes sind og har givet sig talrige udslag i hendes værker. I starten ofte ret konkret, hvor et fragment af en stiliseret amfiscene kunne dukke op i et billede; senere med langt mere abstrakte henvisninger i tre-dimensionelle maleri-installationer, hvor farven spiller en større rolle.

På en rejse oplever Dorte Lausten en række umage postkasser – forskellige i faconen, og én er rød, én grøn, mens de øvrige tæller en bleggul, en lyseblå, en lilla. Og de kommer uvægerligt med hjem som søde nålestik i øjet, som pejlepunkter i

Culture club

There are galaxies of paintings yet to be painted

Der findes galakser af malerier som endnu ingen har malet

There are myriads of sculptures yet to be cast build carved

Der findes myriader af skulpturer som endnu ingen har støbt bygget hugget

There are eternities of installations yet to be installed

Der findes evigheder af installationer som endnu ingen har installeret verdener af konceptkunst som ikke er tænkt bunker af happenings der aldrig er sket kvintillioner af digte som ikke er digtet.

worlds of conceptual art yet to be thought piles of happenings yet to happen quintillions of poems yet to be composed So why shouldn’t there be herds of people wishing to meet about meeting

Hvorfor skulle der så ikke være flokke af mennesker der ønsker at mødes om det at mødes på nye måder?

in new ways?

Culture Club was a temporary bar in the town of Svendborg initiated by Susanne Riber and Dorte Lausten. It existed during November and December 2006. Everybody who had an interest in bringing culture to the people could join. Many constructive debates found their place in the bar. A number of people used the ‘Speakers Corner’ in the bar. Every yellow note on the wall indicated a new idea for the city. People were networking with other professions and interests.

Kulturel Fredagsbar var en bar der opstod i Svendborg på initiativ af Susanne Riber og Dorte Lausten. Baren exsistrerede i november og december 2006. Enhver, som ville give byen et kulturelt spark, kunne komme der. I baren fandt mange konstruktive debatter sted. Mange af bargæsterne gjorde brug af ’Speakers Corner’. En gul seddel på væggen indikerede en ny idé til byens kulturelle liv. Folk netværkede på tværs af faggrupper og interesser.

April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. […] Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee With a shower of rain; we stopped in the collonade, And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten, And drank coffee, and talked for an hour. t.s. eliot: the WAste lAnD / the buriAl of the DeAD

White spots on the social map must be explored untried forms of communication ready to pluck let me suspect you suspicions let me think your thoughts let me feel you feelings at least as long as I can see a light and colours I haven’t seen before.

Hvide pletter på det sociale landkort må udforskes der er uprøvede kommunikationsformer modne til plukning lad mig ane dine anelser lad mig tænke dine tanker lad mig føle dine følelser i det mindste så langt at jeg kan se et lys og farver jeg ikke har set før.

Sociable Approachable Wonderful

Fredagsbar Umiddelbar Wunderbar

If and when the presence of art can change togetherness

Hvis og når kunst ved sin tilstedeværelse kan ændre samvær

can changed interactions also be art?

kan ændret samvær da også være kunst?

only a different kind of art

blot en anden slags kunst

Where do we draw the line?

Hvor går grænserne?

Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition 2007

LOUNGE PAINTINGS

Onion Bitmap 2007 Acrylic on canvas 120x 120

Circle 2007 Acrylic on canvas 100x 100

Panton 2007 Acrylic on canvas 100x 100

Today it is possible to talk about a style being lounge with a pinch of humour. Things can be a bit lounge groove. But a lounge is also a fashionable, mundane residence, somewhere one might enjoy a drink, a film, a good conversation. A salon or hallway.

Man kan i dag tale om at en stil er lounge med et gran af humor. Noget kan være lidt lounge groove-agtigt. Men en lounge er også et fashionabelt, mondænt opholdssted, hvor man kan nyde en drink, en film, en god samtale. En salon, eller en hall.

Dorte Laursen’s lounge paintings posses both a sense of humour as well as being groove with a touch of the mundane. Originating from very ordinary conceptions and items such as waves, curves, circles or onions she plays her way into a world of alternative aesthetic possibilities, which will later find a clean, stylized form of expression. The abstractions are elaborate, but at the same time clear and a form of play in their own right. We read the title of a painting, “Onion#1”, we see the shape of a halved onion, we have a mental image of an actual onion. But we sense the concentration of an onion, the representation of an onion, play with an onion. We experience both, glimpse it, flickeringly.

Dorte Laustens lounge paintings besidder både humor og er groovy med et strejf af det mondæne. Med afsæt i ganske ordinære begreber og genstande såsom bølger, kurver, cirkler eller løg leger hun sig ind i en verden af alternative æstetiske muligheder, der siden finder sit udtryk i renset, stiliseret form. Abstraktionerne er elaborerede, men samtidig klare og i sig selv en leg. Vi læser titlen på et maleri, ”Onion #1”, vi ser det gennemskårne løgs former, vi har billedet af det virkelige løg et sted inde bag nethinden. Men vi sanser koncentratet af et løg, forestillingen om et løg, spillet med et løg. Vi oplever både det ene og det andet, glimtvis, flimrende.

Waves 2007 Acrylic on canvas 120x 120

Onion 2007 Acrylic on canvas 150x 150

Visiona 2007 Acrylic on canvas 80x 80

At one end of the spectre we have the playing girl who, sitting in her sand box experiments with a plastic shape or block. What if I turned it upside down? she thinks. What could it do then? What would it look like? At the other end we have coryphées like Vernor Panton and Poul Gernes with their decorations and fantasies brought to life. Finally we have Dorte Lausten in the middle, hopeful, exploring and searching, and always following her own path. Attempting to melt the outer poles together into just the right synthesis. Upside down. In and out of the painting. In and out of reality. Well on the way.

I den ene ende af spektret har vi det legende pigebarn, der siddende i sandkassen prøver sig frem med en plastikform eller en klods. Hvad nu, hvis jeg vendte den på hovedet? tænker hun. Hvad kunne den så? Hvordan ville den så se ud? I den anden ende har vi koryfæer som Verner Panton og Poul Gernes med deres udsmykninger, designs og virkeliggjorte fantasier. Endelig har vi Dorte Lausten, der fortrøstningsfuld, udforskende og søgende befinder sig et sted midt imellem, og alle steder, på sit egenrådige spor. Hun forsøger at få yderpolerne til at smelte sammen i den helt rigtige syntese. Upside down. Ind og ud af maleriet. Ind og ud af virkeligheden. Godt på vej.

Curve 2007 Acrylic on canvas 100x 100

optic PAINTINGS

Artist Autumn Exhibition 2007

Yellow Bitmap 2007 Acrylic/Spray on canvas 150x 150

Blue Bitmap 2007 Acrylic/Spray on canvas 100x 100

When carefully chosen blue and orange colours are placed very close to one another it is possible to experience that the line where they meet vibrates. This is also the case with green and red tones and other colour compositions. More sophisticated still, blue might shimmer against a light green or light green against black. In this way colours have pulsated and worked along contours in Dorte Lausten’s works for years. And to go from that to an actual optic painting is not a long way, if and when an artist has seen and taken the step. Optic art, also known as Op Art, can be traced back to the constructivist practises of the Bauhaus, later particularly developed further in the USA. In Europe, Hungarian-French artist Victor Vasarely is one of the best known artists. Around the same time he started to make a name for himself in postwar Paris, Danish artist Robert Jacobsen had a breakthrough as a sculptor by allowing the empty space form part of sculptures, thus elevating its character of compact mass. To draw parallels between these two artists and Dorte Lausten is exciting. Not because her optic or other works are similar to theirs, but rather because her aim in many ways is similar, only rooted in a different time period. She – as they – wants to experiment with the nature of experiences, test new possibilities, allow space and work to play together to form new constellations. Space and 3-dimentionality appear where there is no space. But we experience it. Distance and depth appear where there is no distance. But we see it.

Når en nøjagtigt afstemt blå og en orange placeres ganske tæt op ad hinanden, kan man opleve at grænsen, hvor de mødes, vibrerer. Det samme gør sig gældende for røde og grønne nuancer og andre farvesammenstillinger. Mere sofistikeret kan en blå flimre mod en lys grøn eller en lys grøn mod en sort. Sådan har det pulseret og arbejdet langs konturer i Dorte Laustens værker igennem mange år. Og derfra og til et egentligt optisk maleri er der på sin vis ikke langt, hvis og når man som kunstner først har set og taget skridtet. Optisk kunst, oftest kaldet Op Art, kan føres tilbage til Bauhausskolens konstruktivistiske praksiser, senere især videreudviklet i USA. I Europa er den ungarsk-franske kunstner Victor Vasarely en af de bedst kendte kunstnere. På samme tid som han i efterkrigstidens Paris begyndte at skabe sig et navn, brød Robert Jacobsen afgørende igennem som billedhugger ved at lade det tomme rum indgå som element i skulpturen og således ophæve dens karakter af kompakt masse. At anstille sammenligninger mellem disse kunstnere og Dorte Lausten er spændende. Ikke fordi hendes optiske eller øvrige værker ligner deres, men fordi bestræbelsen på en vis er den samme, plantet ud i en anden tid. Hun vil - som de ville - eksperimentere med oplevelsens karakter, afsøge nye muligheder, lade rum og værk spille sammen i nye konstellationer. Rum og tre-dimensionalitet opstår, hvor der ikke er rum. Men vi oplever det. Afstand og dybde opstår, hvor der ikke er afstand. Men vi ser den.

Our sight wants and loves to be fooled. The play between out factual knowledge of what we have seen and our experience of it awakens our senses and intellect.

Vores syn vil narres og elsker at blive det. Spillet mellem vores faktuelle viden om det sete og vores oplevelse af det pirrer vores sanser og vores intellekt.

Other elements of Dorte Lausten’s work points – via the Bauhaus movement – back to the old constructivists, to the time around the end of World War I. Malevitj in particular was infatuated with the idea the black and white square as a possibility of extensive expressions through radical simplification. Dorte Lausten has rediscovered the square as a cause for artistic engagement and has doused it in colours, shrouded it is fairytales, the stringent tale of the image, the unknown spaciousness of the pure shape and the optic rollercoaster.

Andre elementer i Dorte Laustens værk viser - med Bauhaus som transit - tilbage mod de gamle konstruktivister, til tiden omkring første verdenskrigs afslutning. Malevitj var om nogen forgabt i det sorte og hvide kvadrat som en mulighed for mangfoldigt udtryk gennem den mest radikale forenkling. Dorte Lausten har genopdaget kvadratet som anledning til kunstnerisk fordybelse og har dyppet det i farver, der vil eventyret, billedets stringente fortælling, den rene figurs uanede rummelighed og de optiske glidebaner.

The Round Square 2007 Acrylic on canvas 150x 150

Illusion 2007 Acrylic on canvas 150x 150

Collecting Colours in the Cinema

Kinetic Painting 2007 Acrylic on canvas 80x 80

I’m drawn to the magic and eye-popping wow of the pulsating patterns. It’s Flip-flopping madness. Does the pattern remain stable or does it appear to shift?

Pulserende mønstre kan virkelig få mig til at spærre øjene op. Det er glad galskab. Flytter linien sig eller står den stille?

Phantom Colour 2007 Acrylic on canvas 150x 150

Optic Hole 2007 Acrylic on canvas 150x 150

Fuzzy Painting 2007 Acrylic on canvas 100x 100

Vibrating Visuals I play with patterns and try to make the edge become “electric”. The vibrating colours makes my eyes blink. Yes.

Visuelle Vibrationer Jeg vil afprøve om jeg kan få kanten til at se helt elektrisk ud. Maleriet skal helst få mig til at blinke.

Optic Motion 2007 Acrylic/Spray on canvas 80x 80

Radar Painting 2007 Acrylic on canvas 120x 120

Red After Images 2007 Acrylic on canvas 120x 120

After Images After images Is the illusions that will appear after your vision has been over stimulated.

Simultan kontrasten Det er det fænomen der opstår, når øjet trættes, og et efterbillede dannes på nethinden.

Vertigo 2007 Acrylic on canvas 120x 120

Yellow After Images 2007 Acrylic on canvas 120x 120

Paintings as design

Isolation Box 2000

Now you see me

Now you don’t

Inspiration Gerrit Rietveld

Inspiration Gerrit Rietveld Berlin Chair

Inspiration Superflex, Biennale in Venice

Inspiration Bauhaus

Inspiration Superflex, Biennale in Venice

Since her years at Funen Art Academy Dorte Lausten has had a strong desire to liberate herself from rigid notions of what art is and should be. Break new ground wherever possible. Sense, feel, follow her intuition all the way – which is not the full truth, since she also makes use of the tool of discursive thinking. Through all this Bauhaus has once again played its part as staring point, a springboard. This, or the Dutch furniture designer and architect Gerrit Rietveld. But the roads she has travelled are her own. Dorte Lausten’s most recent project, Painting as Design, is the temporary culmination of her efforts – to challenge and be challenged: A set of square and rectangular plates, highly polished in many colours, and a number of cast acrylic building blocks, forming furniture, a daybed, a table and a few stools. Or the blocks can be used to hang the plats on the wall, in order to create a minimalist picture or bas-relief. Here the usual borders between craft and pure aesthetics become blurred. The distinction between art and design disappears. Yes, ultimately Dorte Lausten’s projects challenge the renaissance schism that artists are a separate group set apart from craftsmen and artisans.

Dorte Lausten har siden årene på Det fynske Kunstakademi næret et stærkt ønske om at gøre sig fri af fastlåste opfattelser af, hvad kunst er og bør være. Bryde ny jord, hvor det er muligt. Fornemme, føle, følge sin intuition helt til dørs – hvilket heller ikke er i fuld overensstemmelse med sandheden, idet hun tillige benytter sig af diskursiv tænkning som et værktøj. I alt dette har inspirationen fra Bauhaus igen spillet en rolle som afsæt, springbræt. Eller den hollandske møbeldesigner og arkitekt Gerrit Rietveld. Men de veje, hun har bevæget sig ad, er hendes egne. Dorte Laustens nyeste projekt Paintings as Design er den foreløbige kulmination på hendes bestræbelse - at blive udfordret, og selv udfordre: Et sæt kvadratiske og rektangulære plader, højglanslakerede i mange farver, og et antal samleklodser i formstøbt acryl, der kan sættes sammen til møbler, en daybed, et bord og nogle skamler. Eller klodserne kan bruges til at hænge pladerne op på væggen, så man kan skabe sit eget minimalistiske billede eller basrelief. Her udviskes den vante skelnen mellem brugsting og rent æstetiske genstande. Grænserne mellem kunst og design forsvinder. Ja, i sidste ende tager Dorte Laustens projekt livtag med det skisma, der opstod helt tilbage i renæssancen, hvor kunstnerne som en særskilt gruppe blev udskilt fra håndværkernes og kunsthåndværkernes laug.

The First Model

Sketch for Furniture as Design

Furniture Unit. The first Model in Wood

Furniture Units in Various Materials

Prototype Bench

Furniture Units made by Drilling Machine

Freuds Desk with a Daybed

Sushi Tonight

Painting as Design. I have always dreamed that I could walk into paintings. Simply enter into the painters’ fictive imaginary room and explore the painting from the inside. But you can’t walk into a 2-D universe.

Maleri som design Jeg har altid drømt om, at kunne gå ind i mine malerier. Simpelthen gå ind i maleriets fiktive rum, og udforske maleriet indefra. Men man kan jo ikke gå ind i en 2-dimensionel verden.

Therefore I began creating my paintings in 3-D and hey presto! I could actually put my head into my paintings. (See Isolation Box, one of my first 3-D paintings.) I made quite a few of these 3-D paintings e.g. Hi-fi Club, A feeble Affair, Sanitary Units and KitchenWare.

Derfor begyndte jeg at lave mine malerier til 3-dimensionelle værker, og vupti! Pludselig kunne jeg fysisk gå ind i mine malerier. Isolation Box maleriet var det første af denne art. Jeg lavede en række af disse malerier bl.a. Hi-Fi Club, A Feeble Affair, Sanitary Units og HTH Kitchen.

The common denominator for these pieces is, that they all have a fictive imaginary function e.g. My Back-up Box was supposed to generate lost data from the computer, but it wasn’t able to do so - to tell you the truth.

Et fælles træk for disse 3-D malerier er, at de alle har en fiktiv funktion. Backup Box kan gerenere tabte data fra computeren, men det er jo blot en fiktiv funktion.

To me the 3-D effect and the humour were the most important aspects of the paintings at the time. But over the years my fascination for 3-D painting became stronger. Now it is not enough for me, that my paintings have fictive imaginary? functions. I want my paintings to have a kind of functionalism – I want to work, sleep and eat in them. A hybrid between Art & Furniture Therefore to move forward, I had to skip the traditional way of thinking about paintings. I had to create a hybrid of paintings and furniture. And I realised that I had to reconsider my choices of materials. You can’t eat, sleep and work on canvas - all the

3-D effekten og humoren i mine værker er vigtige. Min fasination af 3-D malerier er med tiden blevet stærkere. Men nu er det ikke nok for mig, at mine malerier har en fiktiv funktion. Jeg vil tilføre malerierne en form for funktionalisme – de skal kunne bruges til noget - jeg vil kunne arbejde, sove og spise i mine malerier! En hybrid Jeg udviklede mit maleri. Jeg var nød til at skippe den tradionelle måde at tænke maleri på. Jeg indså, at nye materialer måtte komme på banen. Ud med blindrammer og lærred. Bil-lak og MDF plader kunne derimod bruges.

ATELIER LAUSTEN v/Dorte Lausten Kullinggade 29 5700 Svendborg Furniture Unit protected by Patent dortelausten@gmail.com www.atelier-lausten.com

Furniture Unit as CAD model

paintings I did in the past were based on acrylic on canvas. So I started to think about car paint and MDF boards. Furniture-unit. I have also had this dogma about my paintings; that they have to satisfy certain needs. So I started out with my own needs. As mentioned above, I would like to work, eat and sleep in my paintings. For that I would need a writing desk, a dinning table and a bed. Therefore I invented this thing called a furnitureunit. Paintings on the Floor The idea is: When you need to work, you take your paintings (furniture units) off the wall and assemble them according to your needs. There is no need for tools of any kind. My dream has come true. I can actually be present in my painting. I can assemble 3-D paintings and use them as furniture. This is the painters’ fictive imaginary room. And now I can use it. It has become functional. Furniture on the Wall That is what I call it when the MDF boards hang on the wall. If you need floor space, for a party, or xxxx or xxxxx you just hang the furniture units on the wall and pop! you can make this neo geometric abstract painting, and use the space for dancing, xxx, or xxx. The next step The prototype units were made out of MDF boards. Strong rubber replaced the boards. The material that is used on this project is made of black POM. In the future the furniture-unit will be made in limpid acrylic.

Furniture-unit Jeg har altid arbejdet med dogmet, at et maleri skal opfylde et aktuelt behov. Jeg startede med at opfylde mine egne behov. Jeg ville gerne arbejde, spise og sove i mine malerier. Til dette skulle jeg bruge et bord og en seng. Derfor opfandt jeg en møbel samleklods, som jeg kalder funiture-unit. Maleri på gulvet Ideen er følgende: Når du skal arbejde, så taget du maleriene (nu på MDF pladerne) ned fra væggen og samler dem til dit behov, fx et skrivebord v.hj.a min opfindelse = furniture-units. Der skal slet ikke bruges værktøj til at samle med. Min drøm er blevet til virkelighed. Jeg kan ”være” i mit maleri. Jeg kan samle 3-D malerier og bruge dem som møbler. Jeg kan nu bogstavligt talt fysisk bruge og udforske maleriets rum. Mit maleriet er blevet funtionel. Møbler på væggen Det kalder jeg værkerne, når de hænger på væggen. Har du brug for gulvplads, så hænger du bare dine ”møbler” op på væggen v.hj.a de opskruede furniture-units og vupti! Jeg kan så skabe et geometrisk abstabt maleri og gulvet er frit til andre gøremål. Udvikling Prototype udgaven blev lavet af træ. Dernæst blev en gummitype afprøvet. Materialet som ses på nuværende stadie, er sort POM. Fremtidens udgave skal laves i glasklart akryl.

Building a Daybed with Writing Desk with a little help from a friend

Changing Mood

Why not make a shelf for an apple?

Considerations

A suite of Dorte Lausten’s works from 2004 towers like tall, wide gates. They appear in pairs, set apart, one behind the other and the other behind the one. As if hesitating or approaching, like a silent procession paused for a second. The material is something as classical as oil on stretched canvas. The paintings are not paintings in the usual sense, but En suite af Dorte Laustens værker fra 2004 rejser sig som høje og vide porte. rather appear as small, monochrome plates, De optræder parvis, placeret lidt fra hinanden, den ene bag den anden eller den appearing together four by four on the anden foran den ene. Som i tøven eller tilnærmelse, som om en tavs proces er immense openings, inviting and frightening i gang, dog et øjeblik stillet på pause. Materialet er noget så klassisk som olie at the same time. Some of the canvasses are på lærred på blindramme. Malerierne er ikke malerier i gængs forstand, men black, some red, others white, combined in optræder som smalle, monokrome plader, der fire og fire er sat sammen til disse various constellations. vældige åbninger, der inviterer og skræmmer på samme tid. Nogle af lærrederne The works are called “Space under er sorte, nogle røde, andre hvide, kombineret i forskellige konstellationer. Consideration” – a title with connotations Værkerne hedder ”Space under Consideration” – hvilket er vanskeligt at of open space, a spaciousness “under oversætte, men betegner et åbent rum, en rumlighed ”under overvejelse”. Eller consideration”. Or “a possible space”, a ”et muligt rum”, et rum der åbner sig som en slags interimistisk faktualitet. En space opening up, like a form of intermittent inkarnation kun til låns. Som tilværelsen er på lånt tid, til at bruge og bevæge factuality. A borrowed incarnation. Like we are sig rundt i, mens den er her, eller rettere: mens vi er i den. living on borrowed time, time to use whilst it is Lyset står igennem de store porte. Som solen gør det igennem én af here or rather, whilst we are here. inspirationskilderne –”Menneskehedens Triumfbue” i Pariserbydelen La Light shines through the great gates. Like the Défense. Men hvor Johan Otto von Spreckelsens ”Grande Arche” står der, sun through on of the sources of inspiration stræbende, én gang for alle, i pompøs majestæt, har Dorte Lausten ladet sine – the “Grande Arche de la Fraternité” in the La åbninger, porte, triumfbuer bevare midlertidigheden og de stadige muligheder Défense part of Paris. But where Johan Otto von i sig. Hun vover at lade det færdige værk udsige noget om det ufærdige, det Spreckelsen’s ”Grande Arche” is rooted in time, foreløbige. Timeligheden. fixed, once and for all, in pompous majesty, Skal man kategorisere og putte hendes kunst i en skuffe, må den nærmest Dorte Lausten has allowed her openings, henregnes til konkret kunst. gates, arches to retain their temporal nature Consider this – overvej dette: Hvor givende mangfoldigt hendes version af en and constant possibilities. She dares to allow sådan kunst kan udtale sig om de allerstørste spørgsmål. the finished work to predict the unfinished, the temporary. The temporal. If one was to categorise and put her art in a box, one would have to define it as concrete art. Ultimately one must consider how wonderfully diverse her approach to this art form is in addressing the greatest questions.

Space under consideration 2001 Oil/Acrylic on canvas 160x 80/160x 80/160x 80/160x 80

DORTE LAUSTEN, b. 1968 in Esbjerg, Denmark. dortelausten@gmail.com www.kunstdk.dk, www.ge9.dk, www.atelier-lausten.com Education Det Fynske Kunstakademi under Professor Jesper Christiansen. Odense. Arkæologisk Grunduddannelse. Odense Universitet Computer Programmer

1996-2001 1994-1999 1988-1990

Censored Exhibitions Kunstnernes Efterårsudstilling, Den Frie, CPH Charlottenborgs Forårsudstilling, CPH Kunstnernes Efterårsudstilling, Den Frie, CPH Kunstnernes Sommerudstilling, Tistrup Charlottenborgs Forårsudstilling, CPH Charlottenborgs Forårsudstilling, CPH Charlottenborgs Forårsudstilling, CPH

Title Optic paintings Lounge Paintings Promoter Paintings Power Point Panorama Prøvebillede Delving 1-5

Project

Year 2007 2007 2003 2003 2000 1999 1997

Selected Exhibitions Galleri Nakke Hage, Nykøbing Sjælland Galleri Nakke Hage, Bredgade, CPH Kunstbygningen SAK, Svendborg. Galleri DGV, Svendborg Kunstbygningen SAK, Svendborg Galleri DGV, Svendborg Open Atelier for BKF-medlemmer Kunstbygningen SAK, Svendborg. Kulturspinderiet, Silkeborg Kulturhuset Toldkammeret, Helsingør Bella Center. In Connection with Boatshow.

Abstract Paintings Optic Paintings Sydfynske Kunstnere Notes on Colour Visiting Exhibitor (S.K.) C.T.F.A.P Spam Fighter Power Point I & II Promoter Paintings Klint I,II,III Green Water.

Group Exhibition Group Exhibition Optic Paintings Paintings Solo Exhibition Paintings Group Exhibition Paintings Paintings Paintings Paintings Painting Installation

2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2005 2004 2004 2004 2002

Danmarks Tekniske Universitet. Kgs. Lyngby Brandts Klædefabrik, Odense. Akademiudstil. Brandts Klædefabrik, Odense. Brandts Klædefabrik, Odense. Høreklinikken in Helsingør Nordic Trademark Company. Helsingør Brandts Klædefabrik, Kunsthallen. Odense Kunsthallen, Købmagergade, CPH Kunsthallen, Købmagergade, CPH Kunsthallen, Købmagergade, CPH Brandts Klædefabrik, Odense. Academy Exhib. Holstebro Rådh. w/ S.A. Sørensen og J. Paludan Galleri DFKU, Odense Kulturspinderiet, Silkeborg Galleri DFKU, Odense Fyns Stiftsmuseum, Odense Universitets Hospitalet, Odense Miscellaneous Patent on Art Furniture project Cultural Friday Bar in Svendborg Open Atelier in Svendborg Svendborg Festdage Art Publication ”Den lille Have” Decorations in Unibank, Fredericia Commission: Christmas Stamp, Esbjerg Member of: Grants:

New Waves Spacepainting Floorspace Vip Lounge Akustikpanels AMC Boxes Kitchen Units Sanitary Unit Backup Boxes Hi-Fi Club Space Satellite Sweat & Low Væg efter Væg Metoper Idényt Wood Paintings

Paintings Painting Installation Painting Installation Painting Installation Painting Installation Painting Installation Degree Show Degree Show

2002 2002 2002 2001 2001 2001 2001 2001 2001 2001 Painting Installation 2001 Group Exhibition 2001 Painting Installation 1998 Debut Exhibition 1998 Painting Inst. w/ Karin Palm 1998 Group Exhibition 1998 1996

Supported by Kunstfonden Main Arranger Main Arranger Instigator of Painting Workshops Painting as Design Wall Painting 5x7 m

BKF, GE-9 Kunstfonden

2007 2006 2005 2005 2003 1996 1995

2006

The End

PAINTINGS BY DORTE LAUSTEN ISBN: 978-87-992712-0-7