Den enes brød en annens død
Audar Kantun & Marthe Elise Stramrud, Bettina Hvidevold Hystad & Simon Torssell Lerin, Bjørn-Henrik Lybeck, Bjørn Venø, Cameron MacLeod, Camilla Haukedal, Cato Løland, Ellen Henriette Suhrke & Hilde Skevik, Gitte Sætre, Ingeborg Kvame, Johannes Høie/Johnny Herbert, Kent Fonn Skåre, Kristen Veste Rønnevik, Kristin Austreid, Kristina Kvalvik, Lena Katrine & Heidi-Anett, Linda Larsen, Maren Juell Kristensen, Tove Kommedal
23.1.-13.2.14
Kunsthall Stavanger
Annual group exhibition of artists from West Norway
Every year I have great expectations for the West Coast Exhibition - Vestlandsutstillingen. This is an exhibition of carefully picked artworks from artists related to the West of Norway. It is usually a great opportunity to get aquainted with "new" artists, and new works from artists I know from before. This year's theme was "The bread of one is the death of another". The exhibition contained one bread and several dead artworks, and turned out to be a large disappointment.
More than one third of the artworks had major faults. Some were wrongly credited in the program map, some did not show the video on the screen, and no ipods played any sound. I can understand that things go wrong sometimes, and the caretaker have to fix one or two, but the number of non-function here was just way too large. And this was on a Sunday, the most visited day, one week after the opening. Sadly this kind of bad planning, bad choice of material or plain bad luck destroyed the impression of the actual artworks and overshadowed the mood of the whole exhibition.
That is too bad, because some of the artworks were really interesting. Here are some of the highlights of which had no or just some faults:
Ingeborg Kvame: AND/LET
A wonderfully simple concept, treads on a canvas are in my imagination turned into a face, with an eyelash just underway.
Gitte Sætre: Morstøv
Sounds from cleaning the house are heard from the inside of a house covered with dust.
Audar Kantun & Marthe Elise Stramrud: Untitled (Soda Water Machine and Hiking Stove) + Personal(ized) Hygiene + Toasty Loaf
The bread of the exhibition, together with equipment of luxury and outdoor living, everyday objects turned into sculptures.
Kristen Veste Rønnevik: Grønn Au Pair
In this box the artist interviews himself about the prospects of a new art project he consider. Sounds like a very interesting idea, but sadly the mac with the video on it did not work.
Kristin Austreid: Closer Apart
Portraits paintings copied from each other, very emotional.
Tove Kommedal: Ivy - et frigjørende troll
Here I could write my worries or faults on a paper, to send to the thrasher throwing it towards the paper troll. The sound did not work and the credit in the program was unfortunately wrong. But I dared to take part anyway, and sent my worries away. They may not have been that heavy, because the machine did not throw them far at all, but it did thrash them, which is most important.
Bjørn-Henrik Lybeck: 40 arbeidstimer
40 hours was spent to cut this rock in two using a manual handsaw. Thus it is not a rock that is on display, but a week's worth of work.
Lena Katrine & Heidi-Anett: Homaging (Gestures) II
Photo of a living sculpture by the artist duo.
Cameron MacLeod: Graffiti Drone
A flying drone has been made able to write graffiti on walls. Or rather spray paint on walls. For it to make graffiti you would need to have a dedicated graffiti writer with a plan, a name tag to paint, and someone to control the drone perfectly. This could be an idea for getting your tag to extreme spots. Thus this artwork is mostly an idea of what is possible. Which is a great idea, and a much better use compared to war drones.
Suhrke & Skevik: Transactions #3
The two artists explore landscapes while tied together with a long rope.
Linda Karin Larsen: Free For All / Cheap For All
A traditional festival in the South is juxtapozed with a sale frenzy in the North.
