OPENING RECEPTION: THE GATES TO HELL, 2012
Installation view, The Vigeland
Museum
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OPENING RECEPTION: THE GATES TO HELL
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Cast (in
order of appearance):
RATIONALISATION
(guard)
SUBLIMATION
(artist)
REPRESSION
(director)
DISPLACEMENT
(big shot)
DENIAL
(curator)
INTELLECTUALIZATION
(critic)
PROJECTION
(sphinx)
REGRESSION
(onlooker)
REPRESSION (director)
oil on canvas and stretchers, mixed
media
240 x 100 x 115 cm
INTELLECTUALIZATION (critic)
oil on canvas and stretchers, mixed media
260 x 80 x 90 cm
DISPLACEMENT (big
shot)
oil on canvas and stretchers, mixed media
230 x 140 x 170 cm
DENIAL (curator)
oil on canvas and stretchers, mixed media
275 x 70 x 50 cm
RATIONALISATION
(guard)
oil on canvas and stretchers, mixed media
240 x 140 x 110 cm
PROJECTION (sphinx)
oil on canvas and stretchers, mixed
media
245 x 80 x 90 cm
SUBLIMATION (artist)
oil on plastic and wood, mixed media
200 x 130 x 50 cm
REGRESSION (onlooker),
2012
oil on plastic
and wood, mixed media
225 x 80 x 25
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Play:
Enter
SUBLIMATION
RATIONALISATION:
May I see your invitation?
SUBLIMATION:
I do not have any.
RATIONALISATION:
This being the case, I am sorry to let you know: Thou cannot enter!
SUBLIMATION:
But I am SUBLIMATION.
RATIONALISATION:
So sayeth them all…
exit
SUBLIMATION
REPRESSION
(small talks with DISPLACEMENT): I am so pleased you are here! Do you like the
tapas?
DISPLACEMENT
(not paying attention): It so reminds me of Venice! The tapestry - gorgeous..
Says
INTELLECTUALIZATION (in a low voice, speaking to him/herself,
while tirelessly walking around the space): How should I introduce myself? Or
casually seem to be acquainted already, merely passing an intelligent line?
(Stops) Hmm, now, thumb up or down? If I say up, where does that leave me? So,
it’s a nay! (Looks around) Where is it anyways..? (Wanders on)
SUBLIMATION (Enters while RATIONALISATION unaware. Scribbles on the
wall with paint. Writes “NOTHING”, then erases it and kills himself.)
DENIAL
(having regarded the spectacle): Aha! A performance! Why am I always the last
to know… (Turning towards REPRESSION) – What time is
it?
DISPLACEMENT
(overhearing): Exactly! Our concept of time is so outdated. We must rid
ourselves of it! I say: There is no time! (Mumbling) Nor anything else, for
that matter... It’s all void – emptiness! (To him/herself) My life...
REPRESSION:
(Interrupting) Cheers, my dear, I couldn’t agree more. Which
reminds me: Time to go to dinner!
(REPRESSION
leaves the room arm in arm with DISPLACEMENT. DENIAL follows two steps behind.
Meanwhile INTELLECTUALIZATION trips on SUBLIMATION.)
INTELLECTUALIZATION:
(Outbursts) Idiot! (Kicks SUBLIMATION)
SUBLIMATION:
(Groans) Thank you!
Exit
INTELLECTUALIZATION
REGRESSION:
(Left by him/herself) I am so thrilled to be here!
(Secretly catching breath) All these exiting people… Still, I feel so sad. Hmm…
and isn’t it very warm? Let’s see, where the exit…is?
PROJECTION:
(Dark voice, loud) There isn’t any!
Curtain
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All photos: Øystein Thorvaldsen
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The characters are placed
about in the gallery - alone and in groups - and assigned roles in a short
play. Considered as figurative sculptures they may be interpreted as representing
integrated subjects, appearing here in caricatured and grotesque forms.
Hell is here used as a
metaphor for the subconscious (though not solely). The figures derive their
titles from a categorization of psychological defense mechanisms, first
developed by Anna Freud. The different subconscious strategies have been
assigned roles from the art context, such as artist, curator, art critic,
director, etc., including a sphinx...
The drama unfolding is a
satire on the world of art, culture and human relations in general. In the
place of the customary list of artworks, the exhibition is instead accompanied
by the script for the play. Each character is equipped with a small brass plate
where its role is engraved, so that the viewer can identify them within the
dialogue.
As psychological processes
lead repressed thoughts to the surface in disguised and distorted forms, this
may be associated to grotesques and demons - but also to masquerade and the
theatrical. The script will show that none of the roles or strategies appear to be overly sympathetic. So, is culture a hell on
earth - only a grotesque expression of our repressed natural drives? Or is art
where all of our subconscious registers can be played out – and where the human
tragedy finds its redemption...
The project's title alludes
to Rodin's Gates of Hell, from where Gustav Vigeland
was inspired for his own work Hell. Interestingly, Rodin’s work was initially a
commission for an entrance to an art museum…
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