The 8th Nordic Biennial of Contemporary Art, Momentum, will be opening on June 13th, showcasing the latest in Norwegian and Nordic art. This year’s edition, titled Tunnel Vision, is curated by Jonatan Habib Engqvist, Birta Gudjonsdottir, Stefanie Hessler, and Toke Lykkeberg, and will be held in Moss, Norway, a small city outside of Oslo. The Biennial will be divided between two venues, Momentum Kunsthall and Galleri F 15, and will run until Sep. 27th, 2015.
“Today’s networked culture not only generates hyper connectivity, but also various disconnects”, the Biennial’s statement reads, “People and communities can thrive in bubbles of their own,”. Tunnel Vision will thus center around this ongoing tension between hyper-connectivity and disconnect, the idea that everything we do, from the words we put into a search engine to the music we listen to, reenforces and perpetuates our own subjective experience. While so much information is accessible to us at the click of a button, our online realities are entirely calculated and curated by both internal and external factors. This disconnect is not only described as a “cultural and artistic condition”, but also reflects a certain geographic/cultural seclusion that has become somewhat characteristic of Northern Europe. Delving into topics like conspiracy theories, paranoia, and altered states of mind, Tunnel Vision introduces a state of being that exists in opposition to ‘expanded consciousness’- something known as “compressed consciousness”.
Among the confirmed artists at this year’s Momentum is Icelandic Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir, also known as Shoplifter, who is known for her innovative work with human and synthetic hair and who has made and inspired the so-called “hair sculptures” of artist/pop sensations Björk and Lady Gaga. Along these lines, Momentum 8 is sure to provide exhibition-goers with an exciting, stimulating, and self-reflective experience that is entirely unique to the Nordic Biennial.
Check out a trailer for Momentum 8 here:
___________________________________________________________________________________
Additional Information
MOMENTUM: 8TH NORDIC BIENNIAL OF CONTEMPORARY ART
“Tunnel Vision” – Norwegian & Nordic Artists
Biennial: Jun. 13 – Sep. 17, 2015
Opening: Jun. 13, 2015; 2pm
Punkt Ø AS, Moss, Norway (click here for map)
___________________________________________________________________________________
Blog entry by Nora Kovacs in Berlin; Sunday, May 31, 2015.
