The 8th Nordic Biennial of Contemporary Art presents contemporary art in the small city of Moss, just outside of Oslo and in which Edvard Munch lived for four years. This year’s exhibition is curated by Jonatan Habib Engqvist, Birta Gudjonsdottir, Stefanie Hessler, Toke Lykkeberg who explore the idea of ‘Tunnel Vision’ with works distributed across the town’s riverside industrial centre, and with Galleri F 15 inside of the historic mansion of Alby, on the island of Jeløy in the Oslo fjord.
‘Tunnel Vision’ is both a cultural and artistic state, with today’s society constantly connected via technology yet also able to live and work together while physically separated. The artworks and artists exhibited thrive within worlds of their own logic, as did Munch when spending a period of solitude in Moss, cultivating his practise.
The concept of tunnel vision is not necessarily a negative one, with the exhibition emphasising the idea of artists’ need for “a room of one’s own” in which to practise. These “rooms” are not necessarily physical, with our personal spaces now comprised of online data and internet profiles in which we can control the information we receive and give. Individuals can create several personalities and exist in many segregated communities simultaneously, engaging only with those of similar mind-sets – or who appear, online, to be.
The curators of Momentum 8 are interested in the contemporary actions that narrow mental focus, and within this address conspiracy theories, paranoia and altered states of mind through works spanning sound, installation and sculpture, digital apps, performance and even fragrance pieces.
Momentum 8: The 8th Nordic Biennial of Contemporary Art, 13 June – 27 September, Momentum Kunsthall, Galleri F 15, Moss, Norway. For more information visit www.momentum.no
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Credits
1. Agnieszka Kurant, Air Rights. Courtesy of the artist and the 8th Nordic Biennial of Contemporary Art.