» Issue 05/2011: Critical Thinking about Craft
Konrad Mehus: Foodcontainer, 1993.
Notes
Text: Tone Sejersted Bødtker and André Gali
Translation: Arlyne Moi
Published: 30 Nov 2011
Konrad Mehus Retrospective
A large retrospective exhibition of jewellery and metal art by Konrad Mehus is now on show at Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum (museum of applied and decorative art) in Trondheim. The exhibition marks Mehus’s 70th birthday. 
The exhibition – Next to Nothing – presents approximately 60 works. According to Mehus himself, the title alludes to his small format: ‘My objects weigh next to nothing. They don’t take up much space, and most of what I present in an exhibition can fit into one suitcase’, Mehus relates.
In the course of his career, Mehus has won special status within the field of contemporary craft art. He is one of the first Norwegian artists to question the use-oriented definition of decorative art. With the iconic work Dinnertime (1974) – a wineglass with its stem and foot exchanged for a fork – he gave craft art a new content.
But jewellery is Conrad Mehus’s main interest. He has fabulated with traditions and challenged the viewer’s conception of what jewellery and craft art can be. Along with Tone Vigeland and Sigurd Bronger, Mehus has largely defined the direction of contemporary jewellery art in Norway.
Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum has twice before hosted a solo exhibition by Mehus, in 1974 and 1993. His works have also been showcased in solo exhibitions at Vestlandske Kunstindustrimuseum in Bergen and at Kunstindustrimuseet in Oslo, not to mention four times at the Kunstnerforbundet in Oslo (the premises for Norway’s national society for artists). 
In addition, Mehus has participated in a myriad of group exhibitions in Norway and abroad, and his works are included in the collections of many museums and public institutions. In 1994 he won the prestigious ‘Jacob Prize’, which is annually awarded by Norsk Form (Foundation for Design and Architecture in Norway), and in 2004 he won a Lifetime Achievement Award from Norske Kunsthåndverkere (the Norwegian Association for Arts and Crafts).
The exhibition at Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum opened on Saturday, 22 October 2011, and will be on show through 15 January 2012.
Porcelain figures at Porsgrunn Art Society
Irene Nordli and Toril Redalen present porcelain works produced during foreign exchange tours to China and the USA. Their joint exhibition is entitled Perspective China/Clay(e)scapes. 
In the last three years, Porsgrunn Art Society (Kunstforening) has collaborated in a foreign exchange project with Chinese institutions and artists. The project’s close will be marked with an exhibition of works by Irene Nordli and Toril Redalen. Nordli’s works were created earlier this winter during a four-week workshop in Jingdezhen, China’s famed centre for porcelain production. Redalen has been her assistant. The exhibition at Porsgrunn Art Society also includes works by Toril Redalen, made during her workshop period at Kohler Porcelain Factory in Wisconsin (spring 2011).
‘The city of Porsgrunn has been very important for me for many years’, says Irene Nordli. ‘It was at Porsgrund Porcelain Factory that I created a re-mix out of old decorative objects back in 1995. This was the theme for my degree project at the National College of Art and Design in Bergen (now called Bergen National Academy of the Arts). I’ve been at the factory several times since then, not least during the Porcelain Biennials in 2007 and 2009. There is unfortunately very little activity left at the factory, and it no longer offers workspace to artists. I have therefore felt privileged to participate in Porsgrunn Art Society’s foreign exchange program and to join a four-week workshop in Jingdezhen, China’s centre for porcelain production. It has also been a privilege to work alongside Toril Redalen,’ adds Nordli.
Perspective China/Clay(e)scapes marks the conclusion of the art society’s foreign exchange project, but it certainly does not mark an end to the two artists’ enthusiasm for porcelain.
In the exhibition, Irene Nordli presents the sculptural series Superwhite, which consists of approximately 15 diminutive sculptures. There are also three additional sculptures by her hand – Birdy, Two and Venus – all holding references to classical female figures from art history and popular culture. Nordli is also represented with a photo series of micro-landscapes from Lunde in Telemark (south-central Norway), which she has called Clay(e)scapes. 
Toril Redalen completed her MA at Bergen National Academy of the Arts in 2007, and since then has received much of attention for her contemporary ceramics. Her works have been featured in the Norwegian Association for Arts and Crafts’ annual exhibitions at Kunstindustrimuseet in Oslo in both 2010 and 2011. She has participated in several joint exhibitions, among others, Fortellende porselen [Narrative Porcelain] in connection with the 2009 Porsgrunn Porcelain Biennial. At the exhibition in Porsgrunn Art Society, Toril Redalen presents the projects Farmland Figures, Loamland, and Art Is Hard. These were produced during her sojourn at the Kohler Porcelain Factory in Wisconsin, USA.
The exhibition at Porsgrunn Art Society extends from 26 November to 18 December 2011.
Research project comes to a close
The research project ‘Creating Art Value: A Research Project on Trash and Readymades, Art and Ceramics’ was initiated by Bergen National Academy of the Arts in 2008, and will be ending in the spring of 2012.
Its research group has consisted of art historian and professor Jorunn Veiteberg (leader), art historian and senior curator Anne Britt Ylvisåker, philosopher and professor Søren Kjørup, research fellow and artist Kjell Rylander, and research fellow and artist Caroline Slotte. Together they have examined what they describe as ‘upcycling’ in contemporary ceramics. ‘Upcycling’ is closely linked to recycling, and is defined as turning rubbish into valuable art.
The research project’s website provides some background information for the project:
‘As most people know, the first readymade to acquire real artistic value by being transferred from an everyday context to an art space was a piece of industrial ceramics, a urinal, which Marcel Duchamp used in Fountain in 1917.’
But this is not the only reason why the research group has focused on ceramics: 
‘Major changes have taken place in ceramicists’ practice in the past 20 years. This applies to the introduction of readymades, and it applies even more generally to the appropriation of techniques and materials from industrial production. Both these aspects are alien to the studio-ceramics tradition, and they constitute a new paradigm in ceramic art.’ (quotes from the website: http://www.k-verdi.no)
The main questions the research group has examined have been elucidated from four different perspectives and via five sub-projects: an art historical perspective is the starting point for Jorunn Veiteberg’s project; Anne Britt Ylvisåker has used a museal perspective; Søren Kjørup has approached the research questions from the angle of the philosophy of art; and the artists Kjell Rylander and Caroline Slotte have pursued the questions from the perspective of artistic practice. 
As part of the project’s conclusion, a three-day conference called ‘Making or Unmaking? – The Contexts of Contemporary Ceramics’ was held from 27-29 October at Terminus Hotel and Conference Center in Bergen. At the conference, several internationally renowned speakers held lectures on found objects, manufacturing, recycling, appropriation, sustainability and narrative. The organizers were pleased to welcome Glenn Adamson (theorist and curator at the V&A), Tanya Harrod (art historian), Michael Petry (Director of MOCA London), and Kevin Murray (curator and writer), to mention just a few leading thinkers in the field. Several ceramicists introduced their artistic practices, including Carol McNicoll, Caroline Slotte, Hans Stofer, Barnaby Barford and Marek Cecula.
In conjunction with the conference, three exhibitions have been organized: research Fellow Kjell Rylander held a National Fellowship Exhibition at a gallery in the centre of Bergen (21-28 October); the exhibition Shot Through, curated by Glenn Adamson, opened at Hordaland Art Center (28 October- 18 December) and the large-scale exhibition Thing Tang Trash – Upcycling in Contemporary Ceramics opened at Permanenten – West Norway Museum of Decorative Arts in Bergen (17 September 2011 – 8 January 2012). 
Thing Tang Trash resonates with the issues raised by the research group. The show is curated by Heidi Bjørgan, who works both as a curator and an ‘upcycling’ ceramicist herself. Works by artists such as Barnaby Barford, Neil Brownsword, Jens Erland, Susanne Hangaard, Gitte Jungersen, Carol McNicoll, Irene Nordli, Ted Noten, Kjell Rylander, Paul Scott, Caroline Slotte, Linda Sormin, Hans Stofer and Clare Twomey shed light on questions concerning ceramic art production and Marcel Duchamp’s influence on contemporary ceramics.
Thing Tang Trash is accompanied by a catalogue edited by Jorunn Veiteberg. She introduces the theme of Duchamp’s influence on contemporary ceramics in the essay ‘Found Objects and Readymades: Upcycling as an artistic strategy’. Essays by Alison Britton, Paul Scott, Anne Britt Ylvisåker and Ezra Shales are also included, as well as ‘A Curator’s Thoughts on Thing Tang Trash’ by Heidi Bjørgan.
The three exhibitions, the conference and the catalogue serve to summarize a major investigation into the contemporary ceramics field and how the ‘Duchamp effect’, to use Jorunn Veiteberg’s phrase, has influenced and shaped contemporary ceramic practices.
SLUMP – Luck by Chance at Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall in Arendal
The exhibition SLUMP – Luck by Chance opened on Saturday, 5 November and is the Norwegian Association for Arts and Crafts’ theme-based exhibition for 2011. Here 12 Swedish and Norwegian artists present works created partly by fortuitous accident. By letting unexpected elements play a role, the results can be surprising and, in many cases, better than foreseen.
‘The exhibition became interesting when we, through good planning and mounting, managed to show the tremendous breadth in the field today. The divergent visual expressions and contents functioned very well. We also confirmed the importance of collaborating across national borders. The participating artists have made new contacts which will surely bear fruit in the future’, says Harald Solberg, director and curator at Bomuldsfabrikken Kunsthall.
Almost 400 people visited the exhibition on its opening weekend, and even the opening ceremony contained an element of chance. Instead of an opening speech, the composer and director Rolf Gupta gave a sound performance that was well received by the public.
The participating artists include Gunvor Nervold Antonsen, Kathrine Køster Holst, Erlend Leirdal, John K. Raustein, John Skognes, Signe Løvland Solberg, Elisabeth Billander, Kina Bjørklund, Simon Klenell, Pontus Lindvall, Märit Runsten and Jakob Solgren. 
SLUMP – Luck by Chance is curated by Harald Solberg, intendant at Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall in Arendal, in collaboration with Maj Sandell and Agneta Linton from Gustavsbergs Konsthall in Stockholm. The exhibition has received generous support from Arts Council Norway, the Swedish Arts Council and the Norwegian Association for Arts and Crafts (NK).
The exhibition is open through 18 December 2011 at Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall and will move to Gustavsbergs Konsthall in Stockholm 18 February – 6 May 2012.
Konrad Mehus: Foodcontainer, 1993.
Konrad Mehus: Dinnertime, 1974.
Konrad Mehus: Harsei (Getting it on), 2011.
Toril Redalen: Loamland.
Irene Nordli: Birdy.
Jimmy Stambrandt: Blimp, 2010. Picture taken at the exhibition Thing Tang Trash – Upcycling in contemporary ceramics.
Glenn Adamson speaking about Postmodernism at the seminar ‘Making or Unmaking? – The Contexts of Contemporary Ceramics’ in Bergen.
Carol McNicoll speaking about her works at the seminar ‘Making or Unmaking? – The Contexts of Contemporary Ceramics’ in Bergen.
Clare Twomey speaking about her art prosjects at the seminar ‘Making or Unmaking? – The Contexts of Contemporary Ceramics’ in Bergen.
John K. Raustein: Uten tittel (Untitled), 2011.
Märit Runsten: (I kylrommet) Dekonstruksjon. Throw up the garbage soul of yours and let me taste it, 2001.