Fritt Fall (Free Fall)
Sound of Mu Lør 28. april
The First act was Are Lothe Kolbeinsen-guitar and Terje Evensen- drums. The large glass facade at Sound of Mu frames the performers against a backdrop of pedestrian traffic. The open facade presents pedestrian voyeurs captured inadvertently by the gaze of the audience inside. This makes the event seem more private than it is intended to be. On the inside we were visually in concert with the public street traffic. The passerby is caught in the gaze of the screen and the artist is presented there in between.
Spunk sported head mounted video cameras that allow the audience to see the performance through four additional perspectives. You could see the musicians head stirring and their hands on the instruments playing each note. A case of synesthesia sets in when the videos make you hear things you would have otherwise missed. These Video Clips Are VERY LOUD!
Robert Smithson / Møllergata 34, Oslo, Thursday April 26, 2007
I stumbled upon a bookstore where I purchased What Does Public Mean? Art as a Participant in the Public Arena by an artist named Tone Hansen. I picked up a flyer for a gallery opening that was happening soon two blocks away.
There was cheap beer and a great video piece with Patrick Swayze that seem to run forward and reverse simultaneously as it looped back and forth. I bought a book put together by a group of artists for the show, Partially Built Woodshed, and I traded a CD for a monograph of charcoal drawings with a local artist named Sverre Malling.
Two thirds of the party was spilling out onto the sidewalk and road. Establishing itself as a node of activity attracting the attention of passers by. Two thirds of the people in attendance were standing outside the gallery most the time, making for a composed setting on the inside and more boisterous on the street.
Oslo Open
3-13 of May 2007 . www.osloopen.no
This week was reserved for all things Oslo Open. I have been to a few gallery openings, public instalations, artist talks and film screenings. The idea is that there are no artists left out of the exhibit. The festival attempts to bring out a comprehensive showcase of the art world in Oslo. Its more like an art expo. I learned about some cool projects happening in the city that focus on how art can be used to help people come together as a community to confront local issues.
