She’s gone off on another
tangent
creating a small, independent art ‘zine.
tangent is a bi-monthly publication produced with the intention of informing and amusing in bite-size chunks. Quick ‘n Dirty, Black ‘n White, each issue contains contributions by and features on artists as well as arts listings in the South London area and beyond. To get the skinny on how to submit writing and/or artwork check out the website or contact: Karen D’Amico via email: tangent.mail@mac.com
Opposite: Karen D’Amico Untitled Digital print, size variable; 2005
Cover Image: Kevin Osmond, Vapourscape (detail) Installation; 2006 Courtesy of and © by Kevin Osmond 2006
Stockists In London: Clapham Art Gallery ICA Bookshop Space Station 65 Studio Voltaire The Residence The Flea Pit Transition Gallery In Nottingham: Moot Gallery Further Afield: Eye Level Gallery, Halifax BC FluxFactory, New York Siddharta gallery Kathmandu Sticky, Melbourne Zeke’s Gallery, Montreal Events News etc., etc. available on the website:
www.tangent.org.uk tangent is a member of Indi&Ink, the independent publishing society all content © karen d’amico 2006 unless otherwise noted. all contributing artists’ work in the form of text and /or images is used by permission and is copyright by the artist. no stealing allowed; hey, make up your own ideas FFS! after all, we have.
The artists featured in this issue have all inadvertently crossed paths because we have all collaborated on the Travellers Secret Box project at some time or other, over the past 2 years. The other point of intersection (or not) is the fact that many, if not most, have never actually met face to face. So I wanted to bring together some of the people that have taken part in this strange and wonderful collaboration. Over 40 artists have taken part in the TSB project to date, and although what’s inside is merely a tiny portion of those involved, it gives a birds’ eye view of their work; some in conjunction with the project itself, and others in a wider context. Further info on the TSB project: www.travellerssecretbox.dk www.travellers-secret-box.co.uk
what’s inside
(in no particular order)
[contributing artists] Cinzia Cremona Karen D’Amico Anne Eggebert Anke Mellin Rasmus Albertsen Ottosen Carrie Roseland Tulle Ruth Daniel Wallis Lars Vilhemsen
[the growing consortium] Asked & Answered: Jan Falk Borup interviews Lars Vilhelmsen Arts Listings The list is long, but distinguished Dear You Anonomous of Melbourne shares another letter to you Keenly Observed Steve Smith’s review of Kevin Osmond at Stantpoint Thoughts on a Grey Day Occasionally lucid verbosity by Karen D’Amico
karen d’amico
TSB co-ordinator - Britain www. karendamico.com www.travellers-secret-box.co.uk
collapsing distance
The Travellers Secret Box project is an ongoing, web-based initiative originated in 2004 by Danish artist Lars Vilhelmsen that has so far involved artists in Scandinavia, Germany and the UK. The project, in the simplest terms, comprises the giving of an object (the ‘box’) to each artist for a period of time, asking them to consider it, interact with it on some level, and make a response which then gets uploaded onto the TSB website, itself a borderless, non-space. The ‘box’ itself is about the size of a large briefcase, weighs about 5 kilos and is made of galvanized zinc. Its awkward, cumbersome physicality is both a blessing and a curse, presenting itself to each artist as both a form of gesture and one of resistance and intrusion. It is signifier and signified, its seemingly useless purpose as an object (and as an ‘art object’) challenging each artist - and eventually, the viewer, through the resulting work - to interpret, reflect on and consider what that might mean. In turn, each artists’ response and resulting work is unique, each interpretation becomes a decodable gesture offered back to the viewer. My part in this project began in the spring of 2005, when Lars asked me to be the UK point of contact. The responsibility and challenge of finding artists whose practice I thought would resonate with the project was exciting but also a bit intimidating; most of the people I approached had no idea who I was, so it was a real leap of faith, but one that afforded me the opportunity to establish contact with artists whom I had never actually met, but whose work I respected. The responses were positive and enthusiastic; most people I contacted connected with and were
interested and soon I had a group of 12 artists from various parts of the UK who agreed to become involved. The challenge was to somehow create a cohesive structure from which the project could work; practical issues, such as how to get the box back and forth, how much time should each artist have with it and most importantly, in addition to the already existing web–based ‘exhibition space’, what sort of physical conclusion or culmination would there be for the work that was being made? As the UK ‘coordinator’, my aim then became one of finding a way for the work to be seen and experienced not only virtually but also physically. It’s been an ongoing process, mostly uphill and requiring a bit of thick skin, a lot of determination and a strong dose of belief, both in the project itself and in my own ability to bring it to fruition. Taking on something like this is certainly a learning experience and more than once Jin-me Yoon’s valuable and wise advice to ‘have a long term relationship with your work’ has echoed within me. The act of collaboration within the context of this project is an interesting one; what does it mean, for instance, to be a part of something that you didn’t actually originate? How do you define your own ownership of and investment in it? What are the benefits of collaborative practice in general and how and what sort of boundaries do you define in terms of your own art practice? Certainly, there is an element of trust involved, as well as mutual respect, both in one’s own vision as well as the vision of the project itself. Throughout this experience, one of the biggest benefits to me personally has been the opportunity to have conversations with artists from a variety of geographical locations, most of whom I would never have come in contact with otherwise. That it itself has been hugely satisyfing. The overall theme of the project is a timely one, positing questions about the invisible divisions which persist between art and the existent, cultural identity and location, and notions of travel. From those starting points, work has been made that addresses topics such as immigration and migration, inclusion / exclusion, global travel and tourism, as well as the wider notion of identity itself, both culturally and in terms of how we define the art object. So a lot of ground to cover, but certainly ground worth covering.
asked & answered
but with a twist Interview by Jan Falk Borup Translation by Karen D`Amico reprinted with permission
Chipped Bark and Paris Cake
Aarhus.nu editor Jan Falk Borup interviews Lars Vilmhensen
Vendsyssel Artmuseum has invited Lars Vilhelmsen to show his project, “How Scandinavian of Me”, which inspired his “Travellers Secret Box” project, a collaborative venture begun by Lars and which now involves a group of artists at home and abroad. “How Scandinavian of Me” is a solo project. The exhibition How Scandinavian of Me was shown in Vendsyssel Artmuseum from 16th.of June to 1st of October 2006.
Jan: We are here at your exhibition “How Scandinavian of Me”. Can you explain your ideas behind the work? Lars: The project began in 2001, and I have been working on it as an ongoing development ever since. The work exhibited here is the documentation which represents the sequence of the project over the past 5 years. The exhibition consists of a row of photographs along with different objects that were used in the process, among them a cake, a T-shirt and some chipped bark, all of which are central elements to the overall theme and idea.. Jan: In the photos you stand on chipped bark. What is the significance of that? Lars: Bark is a material which has great symbolic value, both for the project and for me personally. Generally speaking, in each photograph I stand before various well known attractions, where all the tourists let themselves be photographed. By having myself photographed while standing on the chipped bark, then I am, in a symbolic way, still ‘home’. The work is therefore asking the question, to what degree are we really present and connected within the culture concerned, whether that be our own culture or another one in which we happen to be? Jan: The title “How Scandinavian of Me” is not your own? Lars: No, it’s actually a line from a song by the Icelandic singer Bjørk. She has some very interesting lyrics, and as I was investigating her word compositions I came across the sentence “How Scandinavian of Me”, which immediately and very precisely clicked with the idea I was wanting to articulate. Jan: So where does the ‘Scandinavian’ lie in the project? Lars: I allowed myself to define my background more broadly than simply Danish, so that I portray myself as a sort of representation of how to be a tourist, in particular for Scandinavia, but of course in other countries too. So in the process of the project I would investigate this way of travelling, of being a tourist, but I had to have something personal invested, in order to create a relationship with it in a way, so that the project still had an interest to me specifically.
Jan: On the exhibition there is a drawing of a Christ-like figure. Shall I read something religious in that? Lars: No, you shall not. When we installed the exhibition, we took as the starting point a photo from Skagen, where an outline of me has been drawn. We chose to repeat the image in the exhibition, to ply with the fact that I am in the exhibition, without actually being present. So it is also characteristic of the exhibition. If you study some of the works, you can see, that there is a fiction to some of the places. Jan: Like in the photos, where you are standing before the village signs in Rome and Paris? Lars: Yes; for example, ‘has he gone abroad or not?’. ‘Is it a physical or a mental travel?’ Jan: Which ranking has the IT-project against the exhibition on this museum? Lars: I wanted to create an exhibition in real space; one which was not only a homepage in cyberspace but also something physical, with printed and hanging pictures. Therefore I combined the extra elements, for example the drawing and the cake from Paris. But the homepage is the main project, continually being updated with new things. For example, I’ve just been in Roskilde and created something for the Festival. Jan: What will happen in the future with the project? Lars: My original plan was to exhibit the project abroad and home, which developed into a presentation in Berlin and now Vendsyssel Artmuseum. The exhibition in this museum is a form of ending, but the project maybe already has taken a new turn, as I am now planning an exhibition with Sergei from Senko Studio in Viborg, where the T-shirt from “How Scandinavian of Me” goes together with my second travelling project, “Travellers Secret Box”.
W E B L I N K S - Denmark Lars Wilhelmsen www. larsvilhelmsen.org www.howscandinavianofme.dk www.travellerssecretbox.dk Jan Falk Borup www.janfalkborup.net Aarhus.nu www.aarhus.nu Vensyssel Kunstmuseum www.vkm.dk Senko Studio www.senko.dk
Jan Falk Borup is the editor of www.Aarhus.nu images © Lars Vilhelmsen
keenly
observed
reviews by S T E V E S M I T H www.nooza.blogspot.com
Kevin Osmond at Standpoint Gallery Osmond’s sculptures are made from small, mundane, generic objects; objects of the same dimensions such as ping pong balls, pieces of polystyrene or tile spacers. His sculpture with tile spacers is in the small side room of the gallery, on tall thin columns sit spheres constructed from the spacers, the cross shapes are pieced together to create the spheres. Multiple spheres fill the room and remind me of the heads of alliums, like a sea of huge onion flowers. At the back of the main gallery space is a fractal type sphere constructed from over 6000 chopsticks. Osmond’s sculptures are fragile looking, light, with use of implied and negative space. Most of the work on show relies on negative space to create the form, the lighting is integral to this and the multiple harsh lights of the gallery projects a variety of shadows on the surrounding walls and floor. The size of these works is prodigious considering the small materials used in the construction. The piece I enjoyed most was Osmond’s cloud relief, one is a simple cloud sculpture using polystyrene, these are conventional cloud shapes such as might be drawn by a child, however the crafting of these appears not a simple task. The other cloud sculpture that I particularly enjoyed was of vapour trails, the type you see some time after a plane has flown past in the summer and has begun to split, spread and lose its structure as it is absorbed into the atmosphere, I guess with these modest materials Osmond is doing the opposite. These insignificant things would be lost to landfill and in some cases are not biodegradable but instead of allowing them to spread and thin out into ever increasing environmental junk he collects and condenses them back into impressively beautiful facsimiles of existing natural forms and human constructions, forgotten and discarded they are brought back to life.
Opposite page: Kevin Osmond Cloudscape (detail) Installation; 2006 This page: top: Kevin Osmond Dripscape Installation; 2006 bottom: Kevin Osmond Dripscape (detail) Installation; 2006
Standpoint Gallery 45 Coronet Street London N1 6HD tel/fax: +44 (0)20 7730 4921 Tube: Old Street, Exit 2 (Northern Line) Bus: 55, 243 WEBLINKS: www.standpointlondon.co.uk www.kevinosmond.com www.nooza.blogspot.com
Steve Smith is London born and bred, and a self taught artist. He works with existing objects and materials, modifying them into a variety of pieces from small individual works on paper and hand held sculptures to larger scale sculpture and installations. Steve also sees a lot of shows. To read more of his observations check out his blog, www.nooza.blogspot.com.
Text Š Steve Smith 2006 Images cortesy of the artist; Š Kevin Osmond 2006
rasmus albertsen ottosen
TSB participant - Denmark www. rasmusalbertsen.dk www.nomoreproblems.org
having fun with art
In my work I always have a great deal of humour and I like working with something a bit unpredictable. I like to set guidelines and collaborate with other artists. Within those guidelines I like surprises. I work very fast so the mistakes/ surprises comes kind of naturally. The reason I like the surprises has something to do with me doing something which is mine and then again not really mine, and I like that because I get a feeling as if I’m, to a degree, watching someone else’s work, but still with “me” in it somewhere. Does this make sense or sound stupid? well … it all just comes from a plain love of art, of course, and having fun with making art. I make myself happy basically. My work is mostly video-based – it deals a lot with feelings between one person and that persons surroundings. I am aware that working with chance is an old thing to do, as far as I know it started way back with the Dadaists… but nevertheless I do it as well… The still from the London Subway is my friend Andrew who tap-dances. I recorded him and at the same time I had found a CD called “How to get success” and I cut up some sentences from this CD and made what it said even more ridiculous, and then added it to the video.
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My latest work is a video which is sequences taken from a TRANSFORMER cartoon. These sequences has the evil robot “Megatron” and the evil scientist “Steven” in it, and deals with their troubles as lovers. For Travellers Secret Box I, again, sampled some stuff. These images are from some old books and where put together in Photoshop – I like that its made quite bad. I find it fascinating putting these really different things together and seeing what I can get out of it. I collected these pictures for no reason to begin with, but their difference and their comical appearance made me put them together, and I made a story out of that. A quite successful collaboration is Problemssolvers™ which is a homepage for two geniuses/scientists who solves problems and has a great deal of solutions and theories about the world. I did this with my artist friend Johan Wik and it all just developed from a drunk remark a Friday evening to something we have received a lot of credit for, and we have lots of fun doing this web-based project. As true geniuses we don’t just do one thing but have a lot of areas which we master. Cheesy and new-age. Text and images © rasmus albertsen ottosen
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anke mellin
TSB Co ordinator - Germany
in her own words
www. anke-mellin.de
Being a curator is half of my activities, the other is working as an artist. The main interest lays in the field of Land Art, Eco Art, Ecoventions or something like this. I am mostly interested in the changing reception of nature and try to make people interested in this topic. I would not call my work art work. It is more some kind of marking a site by a house/pavillion structure which invites the people to take a rest, to sit and look at the nature in a relaxed atmosphere. Most times I react to a story or myth about the site, or something special about geography etc. Most important is that I want to invite normal people to experience the nature since I think this is the only way to change something. The curatorial work covers exhibitions in/ and outdoors, mainly in the field of Land Art, but also the organization of conferences and symposia. I ended up in Korea (but I am still living in Germany for at least 4 or 5 month in a year) because I started an exchange with Asia in 1990. I have been many times in Japan and Korea and got to know many artists. That’s why these people here asked me to help. As you can see, I like collaborating and networking and hope projects like TSB become part of the artworld. I found this project interesting although the title does not make sense to me. What is secret about the box? It would have been interesting enough to do something with the box, pass it to another etc. Immediately after I saw the box I wanted to make her fly. So I looked for a small propeller, fixed it onto the box, hung it on a rope in my garden and made a photo where the box looks like a flying object. When my children were small I read to them about a little person (I forgot the name) who could fly by a small propeller at his back. I think the book is written by Astrid Lindgren. So it was some kind of hommage to Astrid Lindgren’s phantasy. 12
For me the box was very inspiring but it wasn’t so easy to find other artists who wanted to work with it. Maybe it was because they are busily working on their own projects. As you know finally I passed the box to Wiebke Logemann who is an artist colleague living in Northern Germany. She is working in many fields. One important ongoing work is that she reacts to the daily news and makes a drawing every day. You can look it up at Later she started a new series in which she reacted to what people sent to her. Something like poems, or the quotation of the day. Her topics vary between people’s behaviour, to animals - in short, living creatures. She gave the box back to me and I
W E B L I N K S - Germany
passed it to another colleague living
Anke Mellin www. anke-mellin.de
in the eastern part of Germany, Renate Schuermeyer. Renates work is dominated by abstract paintings and installations where she reflects about nature and natural phenomena. She also has a website.
Wiebke Logemann www.w-logemann.de www.einbildamtag.de www.einbildzumwort.de Renate Schuermeyer www.renate-schuermeyer.de
Before I passed the box to Wiebke I made some kind of envelope where the documentation and instruction how to deal with the box should go in. I don’t know if it is still existing. I left it in the bottom since the envelope has exactly the same size as the box. I find the documentation about where it went, who did what, etcseems to be very interesting. For my opinion it is always good to do something in collaboration, or at least, connected to others. In this case: who is connected to whom, what kind of network is it? Is there any difference of approach in the different countries, is there still a cultural difference or does the variety of artworks just depend on the individual artist?
Text © Anke Mellin 2006
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cinzia cremona
TSB participant - UK
Come Closer some thoughts My practice stems primarily from a desire to unpack my own thought processes – I use myself in my work as a filter and a gauge. My videos and photographs reflect the frictions between my mental landscape and possible ways of functioning in the world. In my work, beliefs, preconceptions, ideas and products of the imagination are woven into images and events. I started thinking about taking photographs with a woman of Muslim faith after the attacks on the London Underground in July 2005, when my attention focused on being surrounded by people I did not know how to read, and by fear. I felt I had to face up to my ignorance, curiosity and prejudices. For many, veiled women came to represent potential danger or hostility. But under each veil there is a very different, individual woman, who covers herself for different reasons. Could I learn to open up this possibility when walking in the street or looking at/making images? I am aware of a number of attempts to represent Muslim believers, women in particular. But I want to put myself in the picture too, with my thoughts as well as my own cultural references. I do not want to perpetuate the separation between ‘us’ and ‘them’, where ‘we’, the Westerners, are active subjects, watching, documenting, ‘including’ ‘them’, the different ones, into ‘our’ cultural framework.
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For about a year I could not find any woman prepared to take part in the project. For several months, I worked with a non-Muslim friend, thinking about dress codes and possibilities. Then I met Shaida, who thought it was important to participate in the project despite her own reservations about photography in relation to Islam. I wanted to create a situation in which we could share some privileged time and find a common ground, a sense of complicity against all the suspicion we felt around us. I wanted the photographs to capture and represent that moment as it was happening, in its simplicity. Exploiting the sense of authority and presence that emanates from a photograph, I printed a life-size double portrait to invite others to feel part of this encounter. For many people, the conventions of photography limit the reading of Shaida’s body language under her black garment and amplify my own. Can I stretch those conventions with my stand? Does this project promote the need to train our eyes to reading images of covered women differently? This project has started a healthy conversation with many parties about the language of contemporary art in relation to representation, inclusion, and the difference between a multicultural and cosmopolitan way of life. Take part at ni.margins@yahoo.co.uk. Text and images Š Cinzia Cremona 2006
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anne eggebert
TSB participant - UK
www.eggebert-and-gould.co.uk http://anne-eggebert.tripod.com/index.html
Matching Green A project supported by Epping Forest Arts and Arts Council England
Using the languages of documentary and an anthropological gaze this work is an exploration of ‘Englishness’ and the quintessential village green. Members of the community of Matching Green speak of the green and what it means to them through their memories and anecdotes. They also try to describe the green; some struggle with a description of the topographical features, the aesthetic and material nature of the green, and turn back to their narratives revealing how they and others activate the space. They speak of social activity, public gatherings, spaces of communication, rural poverty, economic migration, arrivals and leavings, land rights and ownership, the pleasures and hardships the age of oil has brought. Their narratives allude to a speaking between the lines and hint at offcamera asides and undercurrents; a family history of loss and longing that bind a talented child to place and so nurture the village eccentric; American aircrew kindnesses and losses and what they left behind; and the vicious battle raging around the proposed new cricket pavilion. The ecologist, the young and the elderly tell us what is actually there; a passion for the survival of our green spaces, play with the flora and fauna, and a pre-television way of seeing enable a picturing of the green. The green, a space of soft edges, is revealed as a theatre of change and, paradoxically, permanence – the precious and fragile heart of the village. 18
Interviews with seventeen Matching Green community members are punctuated by vignettes of the village’s May Day celebration activities. Interviewees were asked to speak of their memories of the green and what it means to them, and then to describe the green itself. This work is intended as an exploration of the notion of the ‘betweeness’ of place; that our sense of place is as much through an anecdotal understanding as it is to do with the geographical features of a place. Duration: Matching Green is almost 1 hour 25 minutes long and on a loop. The audience is not expected to sit through the whole work (although some have). The idea is that they should encounter villagers by chance; that each will form a different view of Matching Green and its inhabitants; that they might revisit the work later or on a different day and encounter someone they haven’t met before. Viewing Context: Matching Green is a rural Essex village. This work was originally shown on the village green in the shed (6’x8’) where the interviews took place. The LCD screen was placed where the subjects had been sitting during their interviews. Each shot starts with the blank shed wall and the speaker fades into view (see below). When the work was shown in the shed the view of the shed on the screen fitted into the real shed wall behind it. Although this is an important structural aspect of the work and the ideal viewing space would be within the shed, the context of a shed to view the work is not fundamental to the work. Nonetheless, an intimate viewing space is key.
Text and images © Anne Eggebert and Epping Forest Arts 2006
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dear you
anonomous of melbourne
. . .a day in someone’s life. . .
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carrie roseland
TSB participant - Germany www.berlin.avant-avant.net
avant, avant (story of the box)
One _ March 2006 Sigrid & Nancy’s Pad A package comes to Sigrid and Nancy. Very mysterious, it is a well-wrapped, rectangular box of regular shape, out of which a metal handle protrudes. The two unwrap it to reveal a metal box. They are puzzled by this gift. It is not clear what it is meant to be, or what they are to do with it. Intermission 1 _ The Puzzle of the Box Sigrid and Nancy ponder the box. They imagine its possibilities. Two _ The Box Goes to the Doctor After some thought, the two decide to take it to a professional for inspection. Sigrid leaves the box with the expert. The expert conducts a thorough examination of the strange object, before determining its proper function, and carefully explains the results to Sigrid when she comes to pick it up. Although surprised by the unexpected nature of the experts conclusions, Sigrid accepts them willingly and leaves the office with a peaceful sense of accomplishment. Three _ The Flight of Sigrid She finds Nancy in a site of postindustrial neglect, deeply absorbed in an unauthorized public mural. Nancy is committed to creative urban renewal, and sees all surfaces as potential canvases and stages for individual creativity. Sigrid feels certain that Nancy will be thrilled with the news about their unexpected gift. Triumphantly, she tells her that the box they have received is in fact a work of art. Nancy, however, finds the idea quite unbelievable. How can this hard piece of metal which is clearly meant to perform some dutiful function in this world be art? To Sigrid the answer is clear. All things made with careful aesthetic and communicative intentions can 22
be works of art. And besides, if such a learned professional as the expert says that it is art, who is she to argue. Why can’t Nancy be a bit more open? Nancy is outraged. She cannot tolerate Sigrid’s simple acceptance of given information. The expert is a representative of institutional power, and the words of institutional power cannot be taken at face value. Doesn’t Sigrid have principles? This is the type of conversation that can only end badly. In this case, Sigrid abandons Nancy and her inflexible ways with the box, thusly leaving it in a state of epistemological limbo. Whatever one calls it, it is what it is, but what is it? Intermission 2 _ Nancy’s Delerium Fuck Sigrid and fuck this stupid box, Nancy tells herself. Fuck art. Her dearest and closest friend now replaced by an unresponsive object which she has grown to hate for its solid, angular presence of ambiguity, Nancy plunges into a state of mournful despair. She stares hatefully at the unassuming object, allowing it ever increasing psychic presence. It grows and grows, its hard metal surface overwhelming her. She feels as though it is watching her, creating her insanity. Four _ Nancy and the Box Struggle The frustrated Nancy attempts to impose her will upon the box. She wants to wrest it from its blank neutrality and endow it with being. This is the act of art, she believes. Five _ The Box Goes Back to the Doctor After a second inspection by the expert, Nancy is informed that the box is now a dog. Completely shocked and offended, she leaves the office and abandons the box on the street. Alone and exhausted, she lays motionless in her bed, as the box stands motionless on the street. Both go unnoticed by cars and people that pass.
Text and images © Carrie Roseland 2006
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tulle ruth
TSB co-ordinator - Norway www.tulleruth.com
Speaking Mountains
What would the mountains say if they could speak? If I was able to obtain digitalised 3-D mountains, I would be able to “feed” them into Jan’s language program and hear their stories. I was absolutely convinced that the mountains had existed much longer than we humans and no doubt had many stories to tell. And I was completely ignorant of the technical obstacles which lay ahead, as I had no notion of technology and thought that it would not present any problem. Geographical literature holds the first real evidence of digitalised mountains with a vowel-like character. With the assistance of Even Normann I came into contact with Statens Kartverk (the Norwegian Ordinance Survey), which has terrain models of Bergen, and visited TV2, which uses the programmes for its weather forecasts. But if I was to order a terrain model, “The Seven Mountains” would first have to be encircled. In the autumn of 1997 I moved to Bergen and took with me some graphical 3-D print-outs of vowels, which Jan Skoglund had produced for me. Vowels, which form a part of the spoken language, have interested me for a long time, and to my surprise I noticed that the vowels had an unmistakable resemblance to the mountains between which I was now moving around every day. The world of language In the year 2000 the 7 famous mountains surrounding Bergen entered the world of language. When hiking to the summit of each mountain during the summer months and passing a sound-installation, each mountain presented its’ own unique little mountain speech. But to have mountains speak took 3 years and challenged the digital technology as well as “The Academic-Know-How” within and outside the mountains. And along the way The Speaking Mountains wondered why they were such a challenge ? When asking the Wittgenstein-Philosophers The Speaking Mountains were accused of turning common concepts upside-down in a paradoxical and absurd way. They traveled to the native in the north: The Sami, who found it unnecessary to have mountains speak since the communication already existed between man and nature. Except one Sami: Dr. of Law, Ande Somby, who had a true dialog with the Speaking Mountains. The Sociology found it possible to communicate with mountains and most of all 24
necessary to recognize this new member of the language despite it’s difference to others. Though, the mountains could suffer from speaking disorders like dyslexia or aphasia and thereby explain our inability to understand them. The Sociology suggested Psykoanalytic Methods as another possibility for further investigation of the phenomenon of communication with mountains. The Fine Arts situated The Speaking Mountains within a”Metha-PhysicalSurplus”: it is only true because we believe it to be. Who are the seven mountains? In the course of 1997 there was a lively debate in the daily press about “The Seven Mountains” which was appreciated by the town council, who wanted a final pronouncement on the matter. The series of articles reports that conversation on the topic among the local inhabitants goes back to 1674, where the number of mountains varied from period to period. Around 1737 the DanishNorwegian author, Ludvig Holberg, mentions seven definite mountains. His proposal was followed up in this century by Bergen Turlag (the organisation for nature and open-air pursuits) in connection with their annual ramble: The Seven Mountains Hike” with many thousand participants (though one of the mountains was substituted due to lack of a ferry route). The Bergen Turlag model The route of their hike over “The Seven Mountains” would underlie each mountain’s story, in an attempt to get as close as possible to a dialog between hiker and the mountain: “walking is talking”. Likewise, there has been a wish to establish a collaboration with Bergen Turlag in order to develop an area of common understanding between art, new technology and nature, but in spite of numerous attempts this has not yet been achieved. When will the mountains speak? At the beginning of 1998 project applications for Cultural City Bergen 2000 were invited. The year was divided into three periods: the dreams/ the hikes /the spaces. The hike during the summer months became a concrete and natural choice and the project’s fundamental key question remains. At this point the project’s own wandering began for real between institutions and various people, but after one year Henrik Sundt, NOTAM, Oslo was able to inform us on 1 June 1998 that 2 viable solution models existed, and thereby the realisation of the project in technical terms was made possible. Rune Torkildsen at TV2 showed me the model once more, but the “pixel data” were too few: 90 x 90 meters per pixel. I was referred to the municipal survey department and Endre Leivestad assisted me with a terrain model with 10 x 10 meters per pixel. In collaboration with Rune and Endre, the hike route through the terrain model was programmed in and the whole thing was “converted appropriately” so that, with Jan’s co assistance, it was compatible with the language program he had brought from Sweden to the first workshop.
Text and images © Tulle Ruth 2006
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Thoughts on a Grey Day www.karendamico.com Being involved on a project with people in a variety of geographical spaces, whose native language is different from your own and most of whom you’ve never actually met, raises unique challenges. There has to be a substantial degree of connected-ness with each others’ work, because that is, of course, the glue that binds it all together. Working with Lars, who is based in Denmark, has been a great experience in this respect. Our lack of proximity to each other has meant that all communication has been via email and telephone. We have yet to meet face to face, though that will certainly happen at some point over the next 12 months. Nevertheless, over the past several months, a strong connection has developed between us, one that originally hinged on the TSB project but has since grown into a friendship based on mutual respect and a deep understanding of each others’ work. It’s reinforced in me the value of really looking at work, but more importantly, it has reaffirmed my belief in the power of visual art to transcend language barriers. The TSB project has managed to cross boundaries and open up dialogue, not only in this wider, international context, but also in a cross-regional and cross-professional context, both here in the UK as well as abroad. I think that in itself is something pretty special, and I’d like to see more of that happening in the Greater Art Community. I think artists need to embrace the benefits of establishing links and relationships with likeminded people, regardless of location or level in the career level pecking order. The TSB experience has been enriching and challenging for all these reasons. Boundaries certainly exist (and can be a pain in the ass from time to time), but they are not insurmountable. A good thing, in these perioulous times, I think. - Karen D’Amico
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catch: Arts Publications
Anxiety Culture [an] magazine Arty Magazine Found Magazine Interlude Magazine Leisure Centre Publish and Be Damned Rant Magazine rifRAG Smoke: a london peculiar
Weblinks
Artangel Artinliverpool Artquest Arts Council England Art South Central Axis Artists Eyebeam Fallon & Rosoff Happy Famous Artists Kollabor8 Newsgrist Re-Title Rhizome Stunned Theory.Org Wooster Collective
Listings
galleries, weblinks, etc.
www.anxietyculture.com/ www.a-n.co.uk www.artymagazine.com www.foundmagazine.com www.interludemagazine.co.uk www.leisurecentre.org.uk www.publishandbedamned.org www.rant-magazine.com www.riffrag.org/ www.shink.dircon.co.uk/smoke.htm www.artangel.org.uk www.artinliverpool.com/blog www.artquest.org.uk www.artscouncil.org.uk/ www.artsouthcentral.org.uk www.axisartists.org.uk www.eyebeam.org www.fallonandrosof.com/artblog.html www.happyfamousartists.blogspot.com http://kollabor8.toegristle.com/ www.newsgrist.typepad.com/underbelly/weblogs/index.html www.re-title.com www.rhizome.org www.stunned.org www.theory.org www.woostercollective.com/
Galleries / Studios / Resources UK 198 Gallery (SE24) 2B1 Bearspace (SE8) Cafe’ Gallery Projects (SE16) Castlefield Gallery (M15) Cell Project Space (E2) Clapham Art Gallery (SW4) Gasworks (SE11) Hayward Gallery (SE1) inIVA (EC2) ICA (SW1) Levack (W1) Moot Gallery (Nottingham NG3) MOT (E8) Photographers Gallery (WC2) Photofusion (SW9) SevenSeven (E8) South London Gallery (SE5) Space Station 65 (SE22) Space Studios (E8) Spectacle (Birmingham B16) Stand Assembly (NG3) Standpoint (N1) Studio Voltaire (SW4) Surface Gallery (Nottingham NG1) Tate Modern (SE1) The Flea Pit (E1) The Residence(E9) The Wyer Gallery (SW11) Transition Gallery (E8) Transmission (Glasgow)
www.198gallery.co.uk www.2b1studio.co.uk www.thebear.tv/bearspace/ www.cafegalleryprojects.com www.castlefieldgallery.co.uk www.cell.org.uk www.claphamartgallery.com www.gasworks.org.uk www.hayward.org.uk www.iniva.org www.ica.org.uk www.levack.co.uk www.mootgallery.org www.motinternational.org www.photonet.org.uk www.photofusion.org www.sevenseven.org.uk/ www.southlondongallery.org www.spacestationsixtyfive.com www.spacestudios.org.uk www.spectacle-gallery.co.uk/ www.standassembly.org www.pauperspublications.com/gallery.html www.studiovoltaire.org www.surfacegallery.org/index.html www.tate.org.uk www.myspace.com/tom_and_bob www.residence-gallery.com www.thewyergallery.co.uk www.transitiongallery.co.uk www.transmissiongallery.org/
020 7978 8309 - 020 8691 2085 020 7237 1230 0161 832 8034 020 7241 3600 020 7720 0955 020 7582 6848 020 7921 0813 020 7729 9616 020 7930 3647 020 7539 1911 07786 257213 020 7923 9561 020 7831 1772 020 7738 5774 078 0816 6215 020 7703 6120 020 8693 5995 020 8525 4330 020 7729 5272 020 7622 1294 0115 934 8435 020 7887 8000 020 8986 8866 020 7223 8433 020 7254 0045 0141 552 4813
Further Afield Flux Factory (New York) Location 1 (New York) Printed Matter (New York) White Column (New York)
www.fluxfactory.org/ www.location1.org www.printedmatter.org www.whitecolumns.org
1 (718) 707 3362 1 (212) 334 3347 1 (212) 925 0325 1 (212) 924 4214
Platform Artists Group (Melbourne) Sticky (Melbourne) The Invisible Inc. (Sydney)
www.platform.org.au www.platform.org.au/sticky.html www.theinvisibleinc.org.au
+61 3 9654 8559 +61 3 9654 8559 -
Torpedo Artbooks (Oslo)
www.torpedobok.no/
+47 48231217
Eye Level Gallery (Halifax, Nova Scotia) Zeke’s Gallery (Montreal)
www.eyelevelgallery.ca www.zekesgallery.blogspot.com
1 (902) 425 6412 1 (514) 288-2233