You are very welcome to the opening of the group exhibition “Amphibian State (of Mind)” at EKA Gallery on Thursday, 12 September, at 6 pm!
The exhibition is open until 13 October.
Artists: Ida Montgomery Emblemsvåg (NO), Othelie Farstad (NO), Birk André Fredhjem (NO), Dan Grönlund (SE/NO), Sara Marie Hødnebø (NO), Oskar Jensen (NO), Maria Izabella Lehtsaar (EE), Signe Fuglesteg Luksengard (NO), Vilma Lundholm (SE/NO), Rajat Mondal (IN/NO), Triin Mänd (EE), Marten Prei (EE), Sandra Puusepp (EE), Paul Rannik (EE/DE), Elise Marie Skaug (NO), Mathilda Skoglund (SE/NO), Kristian Trana (NO), Nora Hultén Törnerud (SE/NO)
Curator: Maria Erikson
Exhibition design: Maria Erikson, Paul Rannik
Graphic design: Mirjam Varik
Translation, editing: Maria Erikson, Liina Siib
The international exhibition “Amphibian State (of Mind)” explores the relationships between artworks and the discourses they produce. The idea is rooted in Per Nilssons philosophical essay “The Amphibian Stand”. Navigating themes such as relationships between bodies, nature, animism, the exhibition explores artistic practices where a form of material knowledge is applied to an object (lashing belt, copper plate, piece of fabric, lump of clay etc) in order to change the discourse of that object, and gain new knowledge. Working methods represented in the exhibition – printmaking, drawing, textile, ceramics etc – are based on the sensitivity of a touch and its ability to read surface texture. Artists activate the thing-power of the materials through gestures and care they provide.
Artists involved with the exhibition share a posthumanist multidisciplinary approach, as they apply the logic of one medium to another medium. This can also be discussed as intra-acting. It is a term Karen Barad uses instead of interaction. According to Barad, interaction takes place between pre-established bodies that then participate in action with each other while intra-action enhances entanglement. The exhibition “Amphibian State (of Mind)” looks at the sets of relationships between the bodies of the maker and the body of the art object that are inherently intertwined through the discourse they create through intra-acting.
The exhibition is a collaboration between the Department of Graphic Art at the Estonian Academy of Arts and Print and Drawing study area at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts. The exhibition aims to enhance the Baltic and Nordic scene of contemporary printmaking in the expanded field, including collaboration and an exchange between the participating artists. Six artists from KHiO are involved in the installation process and at the opening event of the exhibition.
Exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, KUNO and Sadolin Estonia.
Opening drinks from Põhjala Brewery.
Special thanks: Estonian Academy of Arts, Department of Graphic Art at the Estonian Academy of Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts at the Estonian Academy of Arts, Print and Drawing study area at the Oslo National Academy of Arts, Liina Siib, Aleksandra Janik, Kjerstin Jensen, Victoria Browne, Kirke Kangro, Mart Saarepuu
