fighting or debating: Tor Inge Kveum and LIAF (long story made short) 
I wrote a review for the Norwegian magazine kunstkritikk.no about the art festival in lofoten called LIAF . There I was quite hard on the issues of 1999 and 2004, both co-curated by artist Tor Inge Kveum . He wrote an angry letter back, which I am obliged to reply on. Me being without lap top for a while, trying to get my shit together for the PHILIP project at Project Art Space in Dublin in a fourth nights time ends up writing small novels when trying to reply - guess that I do not really want to answer him. It is not that I have done some big mistake although he does points out that my research on the founding from the state of Norway was not good enough, there are some issues that I am going to touch upon that I think is not that pleasant for him. He started his reply to my review by using the English term "Opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one". I did find that quite strange because my latest review is about an artificial arsehole in the wall. Well, back to those books on reality and universe. Or should I rock the world and start feeling misunderstood as a writer?








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Remembering MoMa and Nasjonalmuseet 
Calvin Tomkins wrote a piece on MoMa for the New Yorker Sept. 25 (small detour; this is the best I-hate-blog I have found. someone is intensely hating this magazine, but still uses a lot, a lot of thinking about and reading it ). Tomkins is almost 80, something you do notice in the article (somehow I miss marc spiegler's touch on a subject like this, but I guess it is not of his interest), takes us on a tour trying to, like the old man he is, finding piece with the new MoMa instead of remembering the past when everything was so much better.

This is the type of piece me myself would like to write about the National Museum in Norway and it's founding director Sune Nordgren. The newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (Financial Times of Norway) produced a major piece of journalism when the showed in a long feature how a small group of men did an intensive effort to discover and expose how Norgren in his role a director squeezing the National Gallery, The Contemporary Art, The Architecture and the National Museum of decorative art and design under one administration, banned part of his staff - did a bad job at Baltic etc. The feature expose who these men are, how they fed a few major norwegian art critics with material. This material was again used by the critics without exposing it's source.

The feature shows that in every witch hunt, this one as well used slight, doubtful and useless evidence. The mafia standing behind this tried to feed journalists and editors with the same material, but it never stood ground when they dug deeper into it.
This case is a very complex case, and even though the article was explosive when it was published, it show many a great gap in the structure and history.

BAck to MoMa, Tomkins have spent almost half a century at MoMA and has a memoryt about it before most of today's artists and curator even could spell 'art'. He talks about the new museum, takes into consideration some rumours and lies that have been said about MoMA, about the curatorial staff, its director etc. and then talks to all involved. This is what I would like to do about the National Museum in Norway: talk to those involved. No one ever talked to the curators at the museum, they never ever entered the debate. neither did other museums directors. IT is all so quiet.

So why is this something?
Norgren resigned - something I do not think would have happened it a bigger country.




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some small things. the gallery of the year 
Italy got a new gallery; Citric Gallery in Brescia (where is that?)`
Not that I understand Italian, but here is what the invitation card state:
ha il piacere di invitarvi
all'inugurazione della galleria
sabato 23 settembre 2006
ore 18.00

when your happy, clap your hands.

got a really nice package from Jan Christensen the other day with a lot of stuff in it (a bit like christmas), dvds, cracs, art stuff and a copy of a magazine page with a red circle marking som text:
It sucks to abandon your kids and it makes them feel really bd about themselves for their whole lives and they tend to have relationship problems, but as far as aesthetic goes, it's kind of a good look. It's way more FTW than punk or metal, because it's like "You guys can give all the fingers you want. I AM fucking the world"

I guess me and him got something in common there.

further, about Mr. Christensen, the inevitable is happening. Me and him would meet again, I knew it. Around 2000 we where mailing back and forth making up stories and ideas about how to open a art gallery in Oslo.; when Jan decided to do his own art instead (got him far I guess, much further than me and my do-not-know-what-I-am-doing-with-my-life; attitude), I bailed as well. It was never that serious, but we had ideas. it would have blasted the art scene in Oslo (and then we would have gone bankrupt after 11 September 2001 for sure). Now, I am doing my own
art space here in Leipzig and our first larger exhibition will be "I Will Never Make IT!" based on Jan's first big wall piece, conceptualized in 2000 and realized first in 2003, winning an award - like Jan does the best.

Anyway. Jan will start a gallery it looks like. Funny name, reminds me of something ; like my own name.
Leif Magne Tangens

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Lars Morell and Josefine Lyche 
two friends of mine has a show in an art space nearby oslo kalled Aksershus Kunstnersenter. They both work with both installation and wall painting. Images from the show is to be seen on Lars Morell's home page.



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on nothing 
one thing is of course that artforum.com does not have the highest standards when it comes to conflict of interest, another thing as well it is that I find a perverse interest in reading artforum.com's diary (called Scene & Herd) - and third thing is that I do have friends writing for them. A fourth thing is that I do not understand why Brian Sholis has a Blog that he never finds the time to update.

ps. do read April Elizabeth Lamm's post upon going to Norway. This is the third time in a year or so that a columnist at artforum.com goes up north. The two others being Brian Sholis at the opening of Elmgreen & Dragset's show in Bergen this year and Clair Bishop going way up north to my home part of norway. Check out the talkback. Someone did not like the Bishop’s formulations.


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