Agnieszka Kurant, Air Rights 2, 2015. Foam, wood, pigment, powdered stone, electromagnets, custom pedestal. 13 cm in diameter. Courtesy: Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
There’s not just one European biennial in town this year. A little further north than Venice, Momentum 8 is the 2015 incarnation of the Nordic art festival, and this year’s theme is “Tunnel Vision”. Based in Moss, Norway, the concept of single-mindedness in art-making is the inspiration behind the festival, which features art works in media from fragrance to sound pieces, apps and installations. As the internet brings us closer together it also can make us more alone, creating “filter bubbles” where we only see what we expect to see.
Many of the artworks on show at the Momentum Kunsthall and Galleri F 15 (the two locations for the festival) have been created specifically for the occasion, embodying the idea of “Tunnel Vision” in their very mode of production. For example, scientist and artist Sissel Tolaas has created a fragrance for Momentum, with different notes encompassing different areas in the festival. Meanwhile, Zhala, Swedish musician and protégé of Robyn, has written a soundtrack to accompany it. How can isolating the senses we are using force us into less narrow-mindedness, and more understanding? As the curators write in the biennial reader: “This biennial does not deal with the world we might all be said to share, but rather the one each and everyone inhabits on our own, or a world that exists in the margins.”
Ryan Trecartin, A Family Finds Entertainment, Video still, 2004 40 minutes 10 seconds. Courtesy: the artist
Although Norway is the setting for Momentum, the artist list and conceptual scope is international, with contributions from artists such as Ryan Trecartin, Lundahl & Seitl and Julius von Bismarck among many others.
Momentum, 8th Nordic Biennial of Contemporary Art – TUNNEL VISION takes place in Moss, Norway from 13 June to 27 September 2015.
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