2012 UTGITT AV NORSKE TEKSTILKUNSTNERE ... - SOFT galleri

which is also reflected the title Metafoil:
Meta (between, after, or over), and foil,
a cheap material found in most homes,
elevated, given new significance. The
word “meta art” is explained as “art discussing
art, itself and its right to exist.” 9
Metafoil has monumental dimensions
(53 square metres larger than Groth’s Sceneteppe)
and is a machine woven Gobelin
– the technique Groth abandoned for his
Stage Curtain. It would appear that modern
technique has brought new possibilities
for weaving in extra-large dimensions
since 1985. The tapestry, contrary to what
one might expect, contains no trace of
metal. The piece is created exclusively of
matt, polychrome cotton, wool, and polyester
yarn. The palette is predominantly
white, gold and grey, with nuances of orange,
brown and blue. 10
The design is inspired by a wrinkled
candy wrapper White found in her kitchen
drawer. Surprised by the discarded
(worthless) object’s beauty, she started
experimenting, photographing various
types of metal foil. Metafoil is the result of
this experimentation. The motif is generated
from a photograph of aluminum foil,
where the foil has been wrinkled to increase
light reflections and maximize the
illusion of three-dimensionality. The photo
was scanned, the pixels in the digital
photograph transferred to a computerized
electronic loom and translated into
tapestry. 11 Metafoil is a high-tech product
– a successful encounter between the traditional
medium of weaving and modern
tools.
What is remarkable is how the foil
keeps its identity through the process;
one can easily see what it is. It is the expression,
and especially the dimensions
of the work, that toys with our expectations
of materials, texture, form and surface.
At a distance, the piece gives the
impression of sculpted metal, map-like
relief and photographic rendering. The
choice of colours accentuates the illusion
of reflex and mirror image. The effect is
enhanced by the choice of colours highlighting
the reflexes in the motif, cleverly
mirroring the hues of the other textiles in
the hall (seats and carpets). 12 Only close
up are threads and weaving visible –making
the motif highly abstract with ample
possibilities for interpretation.
In the Opera’s decoration guidelines
White describes Metafoil as “weaving wool
into gold” – the artist’s ambition is to capture
light. 13 The art work is a contemporary
variation on the theme of traditional
weaving, updated with the help of digital
technology. Metafoil is both a rendition
of a new landscape, and a “heavy metal”
sculpture, defying the stage curtains inherent
flatness. Observed at close range it has
a rich texture of overlapping colours – at
a metres distance, the individual threads
give way to patterns. Seen from the hall, it
represents an other-worldly view, a metallic
composition of colour and form. 14
MiniMaliSM / MaXiMaliSM
grOTh’S SilenCe
Jan Groth’s piece in The Norwegian Theatre
is dark. The artist has a consistent and
stringent vocabulary of references to nature
that runs through the entirety of his
oeuvre: Mountains and horizons, twigs,
crevasses, creeks, wings, organic and
erotic connotations. Asked why he has
remained faithful to a singular expression
throughout his career, and what his
non-figurative figurations actually mean,
Groth replies: “I just draw lines. It’s the
only thing I know how to!”
The motif in Sceneteppe is a thin, embroidered
line unfolding like a divining
rod, a flat V or a horizon from one extremity
of the textile to the other. As a surprisingly,
modern technical element in its
poetic expression, the motif is lit from behind
by a light box mounted on the back
of the textile. The yellow light is transported
through the canvas towards the theatre
room. The effect of the light bridges the
association between the grandness of nature
and modern city lights – towards new
horizons and what might lie beyond. The
result is a mighty, hovering emblem. It is
as if the room is filled with an almost inaudible
hum, like a river silently droning.
Groth thus demonstrates the minimal of
what is needed to initiate narration, or
create tension.
Sceneteppe, with its enormous surface,
co-notates to the German, Romantic
painter Caspar David Friedrich (1774-
1840) and his allegorical landscapes. The
Romantics wished to relate the sublime
in nature, using its drama and scale to
measure. Simultaneously they aimed to
communicate nature’s contemplative
silence, underlining man’s smallness in
comparison to nature.
I don’t know if Jan Groth would be
comfortable with the parallel drawn to
Friedrich, but the dimensions and the
imagery in Sceneteppe evoke something
similar to the awe when confronted by
a mighty landscape. There is no illusion,
only a large canvas rectangle, a huge for-
54 | soft 2012
mation in textile. The imagery is honest
and comprehensible. Whether it is figurative
or non-figurative lies in the eye of the
beholder, but regardless, it is what it is:
Well composed, modern textile art, with
distinct roots in traditional textile works.
An intense dialogue takes place between
the textiles and the natural materials in the
room’s modern design. The stage curtain
enhances the expectation of something elevated,
cultured and poetical to take place
on stage beyond Groth’s horizon.
Groth’s art is thereby perfectly suited
for the room, and to the sophisticated
repertoire of classical theatre. But what
about the more lighthearted part of the
theatres play list? Does the public enter
into quiet dialogue with “The Line” while
waiting for a jolly musical to start? A stage
curtain is a utility object, says Groth, and
when we know that his Sceneteppe is only
rarely in use at the theatre,15 it might
have something to do with this theatre’s
eclectic repertoire. Whatever the reason,
it is a great shame that this important and
impressive piece of textile art is not more
often enjoyed by the public.
WhiTe’S nOiSe
Pae Whites’ work in The Norwegian Opera
and Ballet is predominantly light in
colours. The expression is practically
photographic. At first glance, especially
at a distance, one might ponder: “What is
this? And how is it made?” That it should
be made of soft textiles is surely not the
first thing to cross the spectator’s mind.
Contrary to Groth’s consistent cycle of
motifs, White’s project seems to primarily
be variation and illusion. Illusionary rendition
has long-standing traditions in art
history. During the Baroque period, illusionary
painting “trompe l’oeil” became
popular as decorative elements in architecture,
painting and of course in stage
decorations – where it is still often in use
today.
White plays humorously with motifs,
expectations as well as materials. She
gives mundane materials, such as coloured
cardboard or discarded metal foil,
an apotheosis. In doing so, White stands
on the shoulders of generations of artists.
Avant-gardists, such as Jean Dubuffet,
Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp
made, from 1912 onward, art of everyday
objects (objets trouvés, ready-mades), and
had them exhibited by innovative curators.
The idea was further developed in
Pop Art, by amongst others, Andy Warhol
and Jasper Johns, who both made use of