The last three days have been great. I have really enjoyed putting together the show with Klas. As I finished up this evening I had to admit to being very pleased with how everything looked. Just over four years ago Klas and I showed together at Målhammar, and just like four years ago the process of working together has been simple and inspiring – a pleasure. I could not ask for a better co-exhibitor.
There are some pieces which could belong to either of us, and some which are definitely our own. The works play off and with each other well. If there is something that unifies the exhibition it is perhaps our shared passion for materiality. In our discussion with the local writer and journalist Gunilla Edström it became very clear that both Klas and I want our practice to extend beyond whatever motivation(s) we may have had to create the work: the work has to work on its own (material) terms. And without wishing to sound too smug, I think that everything in Rest does that.
Klas’ material of choice is wood, mine cloth, though we have both dabbled in the other material. Yesterday Klas revealed that he took a foundation course in textiles including lacemaking before studying fine art sculpture. My final project at Dartington was in principle a piece of wooden furniture requiring me to learn a significant number of carpentry skills. Perhaps there is something in our histories that lends an ease to our co-curating of our shows. Again, just like four years ago, we each turned up with a number of pieces which we had not specifically named or shared images of beforehand. Of course we aware of what each other is doing but now that I spend most of my studio time in Uppsala and that Klas has been busy with other projects we have less day-to-day contact and knowledge about what the other is up to. That did not seem apparent was we quite smoothly started placing works in each of the three galleries. With just one or two re-positionings things were pretty much settled.
Each room has a distinct character – it’s just that I am not sure what that is yet … but I know that they are there. I look forward to getting to know the exhibition over the coming weeks – not that I will be invigilating, that is taken care of by the art association’s management committee. After tomorrow’s opening we have a ’Meeting with …’ evening for the association’s members and guests. This will be held in the gallery, how and what the exhibiting artists choose to present is open and the majority settle on a blend of biography and practice (inspiration, technique, working process). We are thinking of something more discursive, extending from our studio practices to encompass our broader work in the cultural sphere. Both Klas and I work in the visual arts sector, Klas as a consultant for public art agencies as well as a project leader, and I have my educator role. We both are on management committees for arts organisations, and we both have strong opinions on what is required to develop and support artists professionally. I think it might be interesting to speak about this for, and with, the association members – most of whom are art-lovers rather than being artists themselves.
The discussions that we have had while installing and over lunch have been lively, ranging from our frustrations with time demanding bureaucratic systems and our limited time handling materials to concrete ideas of how two of the organisations that we are involved with might collaborate on an ambitious project to promote artists from the region to new audiences beyond the county lines. Whenever I get together with Klas we have the most stimulating conversations. It would be fantastic to work together with him on another kind of project, it feels as if it would be a natural thing to do – and that is very exciting.
