THIS IS A MENTAL INSTITUTION
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THIS USED TO BE A WORKSPACE FOR STUDENTS
Nov, 2022
Three statements on movable walls
For a complete semester KMD lended some space to Bergen Assembly to host part of a larger exhibition. This part of the show was created by professors and students. Some argued that this was an excellent opportunity for students to exhibit while others found this provoking, since we lost 60 opportunities of having a project room for a week, together with losing other work space. I made this work as a comment to the exhibition, to question the efficiency of usage of space and to raise questions about what position the student actually have in decision making at school.
The statements were painted over the morning after and I was worried the message would get lost. But luckily some students picked it up and decided to keep it alive. They rewrote the most important statement, THIS USED TO BE A WORK SPACE FOR STUDENTS, and also decided to make a banner as comment to the exhibition, taking focus from
The Professor to The Student.
THIS IS A MENTAL INSTITUTION
Øvre hall, Bergen Art Academy, Bergen, dec 2022
36 statements on 18 moveable walls
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I was happy about the students reaction and comment, but a bit disappointed over the schools descicion of staying quiet. As a new reaction to the inefficient use of space and assets, slow bureaucracy and not being heard I stated that KMD was a mental institution. I was censored only a few hours later.
I found it frustrated to be censored but at the same time it felt kind of funny. Was it really that disturbing to paint some statements on a couple of movable walls in an art school? I decided to not stay quiet and keep working. I invited artist Kim Ottermo to help me with the statements. Together we painted 36 statements on 18 moveable walls. The statements were not planned ahead, but came spontaneous as we were painting.