Artists
Matias Faldbakken (Norway),
Miriam Bäckström and Carsten Höller (Sweden)
Commissioners:
Ute Meta Bauer, Office for Contemporary Art Norway and
Ann Sofi Noring, Moderna Museet (Sweden)
Curator
Åsa Nacking
Inauguration
9 June
www.modernamuseet.se/v4/templates/template2.asp?lang=Eng&id=2624
Program
12.15 Presentation of the Norwegian artist Matias Faldbakken and his work Black Screen
14.15 Presentation of the artists Miariam Bäckströms and Carsten Höllers work Amplified Pavilion
In the presence of artists, commissioners, curator, the Swedish Minister of Education and Culture Leif Pagrotsky and Director of Moderna Museet Lars Nittve
Contacts
Lena Essling, Coordinator, l.essling@modernamuseet.se
Paulina Sokolow, Press Officer, p.sokolow@modernamuseet.se
The Exhibition
The Nordic Pavilion is shared by Finland, Norway and Sweden, with each country as a host in alternation. This year Sweden and Moderna Museet are in charge of the pavilion.
The artists were invited to take part in the exhibition process by proposing a physical framework. The frame, i.e. the building, was to enhance the works of each participating artist, while the works should relate in some way to the unique character of the pavilion. The artists addressed this by removing, rather than adding, elements: Glass walls have been dismantled, an effective way of underlining the distinctive transparency of the building. In addition to this, the project developed into two separate exhibitions, in place of a traditional group exhibition, and alternating over time rather than in space. This explains the title, Sharing Space Dividing Time.
Matias Faldbakken´s contribution consists of a video, that will be shown on a plasma screen, and an artists’ book which will form part of the catalogue, Black Screen Book. Faldbakken’s video, entitled Black Screen, consists of a single shot in which the camera travels through a cinema whose screen has been replaced by a black rectangle. The video combines the traditional symbol for entertainment, the silver screen, with the key symbol for not belonging and for negation in the form of the black, anarchist flag.
Miriam Bäckström and Carsten Höller´s sound installation Amplified Pavilion depends on the building being a visually empty and open space. The two large glass walls are being removed together with the window frames. Hidden microphones will be sited throughout and above the building in the trees. Real time sound from the outside will blend in the pavilion with the live sounds emitted by visitors through loudspeakers installed between the ceiling beams. The volume increase of the amplified sound will be small, on the threshold of being discernable. To be in the pavilion could be described as an “increased capacity of hearing”, emphasizing the experience of presence.
Responsible for the Nordic Pavilion are: Moderna Museet (Sweden), Office for Contemporary Art, Office for Contemporary Art Norway and Finnish Fund for Art Exchange, FRAME (Finland).
More information at
www.modernamuseet.se/v4/templates/template1.asp?id=2624
(About the exhibition)
www.modernamuseet.se/v4/templates/template3.asp?id=2623
(Matias Faldbakken, biography)
www.modernamuseet.se/v4/templates/template1.asp?id=2620
Miriam Bäckström adn Carsten Höller, their common biography)