Cramped, Cheap and Far Too Private
Performance by Marianne Heier
The performance Cramped, Cheap and Far Too Private takes place in Heier’s home and studio. Drawing on her own financial records (in the form of tax returns and accounts), she will give an account of the current situation of artists in Norway.
Where
External venue
Price
Free admission – registration required and binding.
Info
The performance will be held in Norwegian.
Practical information and the exact address will be sent to registered participants as the performance approaches.
About the performance
Marianne Heier’s performance Cramped, Cheap and Far Too Private is inspired by Aina Helgesen’s survey of living conditions and the subsequent exhibition at UKS in 1971.
Heier lives and works in Kværnerkolonien, one of Norway’s first social housing projects, built in 1914 on unstable quick clay soil on the site of Kværner’s former rubbish dump. These homes turned industrial workers into property owners, sparking conflict within the Norwegian Labour Party, which at the time was oriented towards communism and viewed homeownership as undermining the workers’ collective struggle.
The area lies in the shadow of the upper-middle-class neighbourhood of Ekebergåsen and receives little sunlight during much of the winter. Yet it offers an unobstructed view of the MUNCH museum in Bjørvika, the Royal Palace and Oslo West, where the sun shines all year round.
The performance will take place in Heier’s home studio, which will serve as a tangible representation of the role of the artist and of class divisions in contemporary Norway.
The project is supported by KORO’s Local Communities Scheme and is part of the larger project Dark Matter, which also includes a symposium at UKS and a series of art policy texts published in Klassekampen and Billedkunst.
About the artist
Marianne Heier is a Norwegian artist whose practice primarily encompasses performance, installation and interventions. She studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan, Italy, and subsequently completed the artistic research fellowship programme at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts. Heier was selected for the National Annual Exhibition (Høstutstillingen) at Kunstnernes Hus in 1999 and has since exhibited and collaborated with a wide range of art institutions in Norway, as well as presenting numerous exhibitions and projects internationally.
