Liv Bugge
Into the Wreck
19.04.13 – 16.06.13
19.04.13 – 16.06.13
Liv Bugge's work often examines concrete, individualized expressions of larger power structures. In the exhibition at Kunstnernes Hus, Bugge shows a new video work that examines possible demonization processes active in the individual in social democracy. As the title Into the Wreck suggests, the exhibition revolves around a form of wreckage. The title is taken from the American poet Adrienne Rich's (1929-2012) poetry collection from 1973. The artist picks up elements from the poem's zeitgeist and looks for ideological wreckage in concepts such as faith and resistance. Where does the will to resist come from and can it be released?
About the exhibition
The exhibition's central element is a video where we witness a kind of inverted exorcism session. The film also takes us to public assembly rooms in Oslo, a courtroom and a church. By focusing on details such as interiors and choice of materials, the artist highlights that structural processes involve human determinations and that all details that frame public and private spaces are the result of choices.
Underlying Bugge's exhibition are references to historical demonization processes, where expressions of resistance are categorized as manifestations of evil. Examples of this are Europe's witch trials or the missionaries' encounter with the colonized country, where resistance was considered a sign of the diabolical possession of the colonized. The exhibition also reflects on the fact that the modernized version of the Church of Norway's confession of sins was subject to change in 2011. Human evil has become negotiable and opt-out. As the destructive in us is still considered a taboo, the artist suggests that we are continuously exposed to a kind of societal exorcism.
About the artist
Liv Bugge (b. 1974) has her education from the Norwegian Academy of Fine Arts in Oslo and HiSK (Higher Institute for Fine Art) in Belgium. She has been involved with projects at Kunsthalle CCA Andratx, Mallorca (2012), Galleria KONE, Finland (2012), Konsthall C in Stockholm (2011), NY ArtBookFair at MOMA in New York (2011), Gallery D.O.R. in Brussels (2011), Spike Island in Great Britain (2011), No Soul for Sale at Tate Modern in London (2010), Momentum in Moss (2009), Galleri Trafo in Asker (2008), PROJECT(OR) in the Netherlands (2008) ). Furthermore, her films have been shown at several festivals such as Festival international de film et video de creation in Luxembourg (2008) and Seminário Internacional Arte e Natureza in Brazil (2011). Bugge also runs the artist-run platform FRANK together with Sille Storihle.
