2012 UTGITT AV NORSKE TEKSTILKUNSTNERE ... - SOFT galleri

mass-produced packaging and household
products in their art.
Theatre, opera and ballet survive solely
on the public’s will to be seduced, entertained,
and played with. This is why
White’s stage curtain Metafoil is so successful.
Her use of illusion noisily enhances
the expectations to the fantastic
world on stage – which is precisely what
the Snøhetta architects and the Commissioning
Committee at the Opera wanted.
Contrary to Groth’s Sceneteppe, which
also functions very well in its location and
fulfills its commissioner’s desire to have a
stage curtain that “strikes a note, without
arresting the thought”, a critic might
object that White’s Metafoil challenges
the eye to the extent that it steals from
the aesthetic of the room. In my opinion,
Metafoil’s loud presence as an autonomous
artwork and the room’s focal point
sharpens the senses, priming the audience
before the extravagant experience
of opera and ballet. Therefore, even if you
should be completely unmoved by the
performing arts, I recommend you visit
dOCuMenTa (13) KaSSel 2012
The 13th Documenta has social-political
and social-philosophical references
from various countries. The curators
have chosen artists very much aware of
their own age, where art is placed in a
political and social context, or where scientific
research aspects form the point
of departure for artistic processes. With
seminars and exhibitions in both Kabul
and Cairo, the focus is on artists that we
rarely see in Europe. Many nations unfamiliar
in an artistic context are strongly
represented. It is no longer a Euro-American
exhibition.
RUNA BOGER
The exhibition comprises works by
190 artists. The exhibition venues
are many and highly diverse. Kassel is a
small, attractive city, easily accessible, but
Documenta calls for plenty of time and a
good pair of shoes. And precisely the fact
that the art is on show in so dissimilar
soft 2012 | 55
both venues in Oslo to enjoy these two
diametrically different, but equally impressive,
works of modern textile art.
TRANSLATiON BARBRO ROSS ViALLATTE
1 http://snl.no/Jan_Groth
2 Karin Hellandsjø, Tegn, Jan Groths kunst, (Museet for Samtidskunst, 2001), 130.
3 Ibid., 130.
4 Operaens Utsmykningsplan, pdf, side 12.
5 http://www.operautsmykking.no/utsmykk/utsm_utsm_teppe_arkiv02.html
6 http://www.operautsmykking.no/utsmykk/utsm_utsm_teppe_arkiv06.html
7 http://www.operautsmykking.no/utsmykk/utsm_utsm_teppe_arkiv03.html
8 http://specialtyfabricsreview.com
9 http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta
10 Gro Kraft, Visual art in the Oslo Opera House, (Press publishing, 2011) s. 74.
11 Gro Kraft, Visual art in the Oslo Opera House, (Press publishing, 2011) s. 74.
12 Gro Kraft, Visual art in the Oslo Opera House, (Press publishing, 2011) s. 74.
13 http://www.operautsmykking.no/utsmykk/utsm_utsm_teppe_arkiv03.html
14 http://www.operautsmykking.no/utsmykk/
utsm_utsm_teppe_arkiv09.html
15 Karin Hellandsjø, Tegn, Jan Groths kunst, (Museet for Samtidskunst, 2001), 130.
FRAGMENT OF A LARGE-ScALE cONTEMpORARy EXHiBiTiON WiTH A HiSTORicAL pERSpEcTiVE
architectural interiors is in itself a challenge,
not only for one’s feet but also very
much for one’s perceptive capacity. As an
onlooker, it is just as much a question of
making a choice as one gradually realises
that it is impossible to accomplish everything.
Conceptual art is the bearing element
and calls for the public’s attention
and presence. My choice for this article is
the works that in some way or other are
related to the material and to textiles in
particular: textile production, textile fibre,
textile design, textile technique and/
or textile patterns and ornaments.
HauptbaHNHOf
On the first evening, our small group visited
Hauptbahnhof – a former main railway
station, now called Kulturbahnhof.
Whether it has to do with the context, or
because it was the first meeting with Documenta,
while the head was fresh and the
body ready for new art experiences, is difficult
to tell – but this is the encounter best
remembered afterwards. The old, familiar
architecture around a railway station, with
platforms, large open spaces, storehouses
with ramps, formed a nostalgic framework
and greatly contributed to seeing the contemporary
art from a new angle.
iSTván CSàKàny (1978) was born in
Romania and lives in Budapest. The Sewing
Room (2012) is an installation that
comprises an imaginary room carved
out of wood. Csàkàny has reconstructed
a sewing room with 12 sewing machines,
steam equipment and everything that belongs
to the interior of this type of small
business. Everything is full-scale and meticulously
carved out of pinewood, down
to the smallest detail, including electric
wires, the technical finesses of the sewing
machines, the soft folds of the ironing
board and the strip lighting in the ceiling.
To remind us that this is a time-consuming
craft, Csàkàny has let the wood
remain unfashioned at certain points, so
that we can clearly see the material starting
point for his work. The smell of newly
carved pine catches at one’s nostrils and
provides references to woodcarving and
art craft.