(Translated from norwegian)
A Juxtaposition of Fascinating Mysticism
OSLO
Norwegian Sculptors Association
Johanne Hestvold: Contact – until June 30.
Erle Saxegaard: Instruments for Drawing Down the Moon – until June 30.
Annalise Wimmer: The (Mis)Fortune of the Witch’s Cat – until June 30.
Jørund Aase: If the World – until August 4.
Barbro Raen Thomassen: S for Seeds and Survival – until August 4.
The clouds slowly gather over the green area just above Carl Berners Plass in Oslo, hinting at a coming storm. The occasional gusts of wind on the warm and otherwise sunny opening night signal that something is brewing. According to the Sculptors Association, all their openings should be in May and June. This is easy to agree with after visiting Villa Furulund in full bloom on a summery May evening. The five exhibitions are separate, but as you move through the park and indoor gallery—where the works are displayed—they enter into a dialogue, each exploring the three-dimensional field in its own way.
The Potentials of Natural Science
In a circle on the grass stand nine sculptures carved from granite, titled S for Seeds and Survival. The massive and hard material has been shaped after various weed seeds, where Barbro Raen Thomassen makes the nearly invisible visible. The sculptures not only reveal the seed's form to the viewer but also its inherent potential. The classical material gives them a weight and legitimacy they lack in their natural form, forcing us to take these otherwise unwanted plants and the biological system they belong to seriously.
Ferromagnetic Exploration
Inside the villa, Johanne Hestvold explores the combination of ferromagnetic foil and iron powder. The title Contact feels almost like a provocation, as one instinctively wants to touch the highly tactile surface of the work, contrary to proper gallery etiquette. The forces of physics are made visible with magnetic foil, familiar to many from refrigerator fronts. The result is far from everyday, instead being both intriguing and monumental. The magnetic forces hold the gray dust in abstract forms, capturing attention as soon as one enters the room. The static yet incredibly porous shape creates a tension that makes the space and the entire Villa Furulund vibrate.
Up in the attic of Villa Furulund, mysticism rises in Annalise Wimmer’s exhibition The (Mis)Fortune of the Witch’s Cat. Red light fills the room, accompanied by a scent mix of hair, silicone, and witchcraft from the witch’s cat, lying like a hairball in the middle of the room. The witch’s cat, represented in Norwegian folklore and medicine, is attributed both demonic and divine powers. It exemplifies Wimmer's interest in myths, something she is also concerned with in a modern context where consumer culture objects possess “powers.” Powers that offer various solutions to life’s challenges, exploiting the same basic hope and optimism found in folklore.
Mysticism not only characterizes the top floor of the villa but also Jørund Aase’s works in the exhibition If the World. Black, slightly shiny lumps are placed both inside and outside, evoking thoughts of post-apocalyptic films and series, where unknown organisms suddenly grow and turn the world order upside down. As with the witch’s cat, the unknown here can be assigned demonic or divine qualities as needed.
Rituals and Performative Art
In Erle Saxegaard’s exhibition, a performative and ritual element brings the exhibited instruments to life. Steel structures, covered with leather, mimic the human body bent in obscure postures. Artist Elise Nohr, seen in the image below, has been invited by Saxegaard to contribute to the exhibition. Throughout the exhibition period, she performs a series of exercises with the objects in the room, blurring the boundaries between human and instrument. The title Instruments for Drawing Down the Moon suggests that the objects may have inherent powers and abilities and that their ritual use can fill the viewer with spiritual force and presence.
The Known and the Unknown
The five exhibitions make use of Villa Furulund and the adjacent sculpture park's potential as an exhibition space, balancing separation and dialogue among them. The opening night didn’t deliver a dramatic downpour but instead a thrilling exploration of the three-dimensional field. Explorations of both what we can logically explain and what we cannot but still strive to understand.
