HIPPOLYTE STUDIO
Yrjönkatu 8–10 (courtyard), 00120 Helsinki, +358 9 612 33 44, www.hippolyte.fi
Open: tue–fri 12–17, sat–sun 12–16
11.1.–3.2.2013
KONTORprojects:
LOUISE BØGELUND SAUGMANN & JENNY NORDQUIST
Nature Nurture
Nature Nurture shows how two visual artists approach themes of transience and decay in the two projects Attracted to moths and It will get better if you move to the countryside. From two different biological starting points the works explore our powerlessness in the face of the symbiosis that exists between the human body, and the organic processes that control us.
Louise Bøgelund Saugmann’s Attracted to Moths explores the universe of the orchard ermine moth, Yponomeuta Padella. The orchard ermine moth is a pest that lives in certain woods during the summer, around which it creates a big silken web to protect itself from the surroundings.
The relationship between nature and culture is fascinating because there is a paradox between nature’s own free will and mankind’s need to control it. The moth does not ask of permission to create the web. It creates it exactly where there are favorable conditions to do it. Through history the desire to challenge and control nature has driven mankind to cultivate nature and in that way ensure control over it. We live in a technological society, but at the same time our body is organic like the plants outside. In this way we are more connected with the organic world and the orchard ermine moth than we believe.
Jenny Nordquist’s It will get Better if you move to the countryside explores how our identity is affected by physical change. The involuntary metamorphosis we experience during illness and physical suffering recalibrates the balance between body and soul. The photographs and sculptures become fragments of a story about existentialism and bodily decay; we as humans struggle to match the image we have of ourselves, and the image we believe others have of us.
In our search for physical and psychological alleviation we also have to choose between conventional treatment and alternative medicine. We can follow the scientifically verified diagnosis or explore the more intangible jungle of natural medicinal products. The works tackle this dilemma of how our constant pursuit of healing can produce more confusion than closure.
Louise Bøgelund Saugmann, Attracted to Moths, Still Life #8, 2011
Louise Bøgelund Saugmann is born and based in Copenhagen, Denmark. She graduated with Honours first class in photography from The Arts Institute at Bournemouth, UK in 2004 and has exhibited widely. Her work originates from an interest in spaces that represent imbalances and uneasiness in culture. She is the co-founder and director of KONTORprojects.
Jenny Nordquist (born 1977, Sweden) earned an MA in 2004 from Goldsmiths University London, as well as a BA in 2001 from the London College of Communication, University of Arts, London. In her work Nordquist examines issues of existentialism, identity and decay. Nordquist has exhibited internationally at for example Singapore International Photography Festival, Kunsthal Rotterdam, Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art (UK), Gallery Format (Sweden), Brighton Photo Fringe, Kunsthal Charlottenburg (DK). She is the co-founder and director of KONTORprojects.
KONTORprojects is an artist-run exhibition space in Copenhagen dedicated to innovative contemporary art photography. The aim is to show photography that pushes the medium forward and explores unconventional subject matters and presentation to examine what photography can achieve as an art form. The program spans solo shows, group exhibitions, and performances in collaboration with both established artist and the latest emerging talent.
The exhibition is kindly supported by:
Grosserer L. F. Foghts Fond, Knud Højgaards Fond and A.P. Møller og HustruChastine Mc-Kinney Møllers Fond.