how's this for a tabloid title: artists are a bit mad and has more sex  
The guardian reports that a new comparative survey shows that artist share some "unusual cognition". They are quite simply a bit mad. And they have twice as many partners as the rest of the population after the age of 18 (in England anyway -- I think up in northern norway where I come from most youth lead a very active sexual life from the age of 13-15 and get their first child at 18-20...) And there is not that many artist around up there (not many queer either although lesbians are socially accepted).

When are they going to do the same thing about art critics and curators?



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the death of a gallery 
there have been rumours for a long time: Galleri Wang , one of the flag ships of Norwegian contemporary art, has problems with their economy. A few days ago it became clearer as their two main investors pulled out.

This is not any longer breaking news in Norway since it was
one of the headlines of the newspaper Dagens Næringsliv yesterday.

It is now clear that Galleri Wang, that since they took in several new (Norwegian) artists in 2001, supporting their artist Børre Sæthre for his My Private Sky exhibition at the Astrup Fearnley Museum for Modern Art in Oslo same year, represented at both Art Basel (2002 or 2003) and the Armory Show(2003-04). They did statement with Børre Sæthre in Basel 2000.

The rumours have been more than a few, and last year it was reported (one more time by the newspaper Dagens Næringsliv) that they had problems and was considering several different models for the gallery.

Earlier this year they let the same artist they started to work with only two years earlier (but before that they had solo exhibitions with three of them during the last year or so) go. And not only them, some of the artists they had been working with for several years also had to go. It was said that they would cut down to only five artists (my guess would then be: Harald Fenn, Kjell Erik Killi Olsen, Kjell Nupen, Torbjørn Rødland and Børre Sæthre), make a project room up front for showing new artists and doing art dealing from the office. I guess this model is still interesting as it would cut costs - if the artists would agree working with the gallery under such conditions.

Now the gallery haven't showed anything since April this year, and for the new
Standard Oslo gallery would be showing Torbjørn Rødland at the NADA art fair came as a surprise for the Norwegian arts life.

One comes and one goes.




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update to radiodays 
I like the sound of 'radiodays'.
Have added a static page named 'artlinks: sound and Radio'. There are maybe more sound than radio in there by now, but I liked them all what I had time to hear so far.

many of the links I found at Magnetic Spirits link site. This is an sound artist called Victoria Fenner in Canada. Also, do read her thoughts about sound art ...

Now, I know there is much more to the subject of sound art and radio online, but I think I will leave the subject for today. Maybe more tomorrow.




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hacktivism 
this is the Norwegian translation of a French text on how blogs are used as activism software. it is also to be found in original and English language.

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Tagging art in Herford 
MARTa , now that was a strange museum. After arriving there on Friday last for an interview with Cai Guo-Qiang there was an opening on Saturday with a lot of energy. The museum itself is initiated of the kitchen and furniture industry in Herford. They wanted a schaufenster for their collection and for their…furniture (the Name stands for Möbel (German for furniture) ART, and a stands for ambient). They contacted Frank Gerry and then Jan Hoet – the latter one going into retirement after opening the SMAK in Ghent. And he came – saw – and got a heart attack.

319 works of art and more than 180 artist (as far as I could tell from the catalogue) – many contemporary makes this to a rather large art happening for a city of 65.000 inhabitants. So on the opening day; first came the demonstrants – being against the new unemployment- reform of the German state, against one of the ministers (Clement, former minister of this county) and MARTa… there where quite a lot of them occupying the whole street in front of the museum. When they where gone came the visitors, blocking the whole street. All with umbrellas due to rain. And mid amongst them the work of Paolo Chiasera, a statue of Tupac Shakur placed on a pedestal five metres above the mob. Looking great. Then the was the performances.

The exhibition itself is rather good, consisting of many works a lot of them being classics. Unfortunately they are ordered rather good (thorsos over here – holes, that being vaginas or wunds, over here etc.). Anyway. Amanda Coogan sat on a couch for I do not know how many hours looking very painterly. A lovely living painting in her long blue dress. At the same time Lotte Lindner was laying behind Gavin Turks rather boring Che statue (in a t-shirt and jeans on a concrete floor – very cold I can assure) on her back with a lot of potato chips on her head, the bags of spread around her head. It looked great – and one of the other artists commented that it look like the world greatest rock concert and somebody died and in honour all the other present spilled their chips over the deceased’s head like a homage to both the concert and the reaction to it.

MARTa is preformative in its expression of architecture but one cannot move any walls – no matter how curved they are there is no chance in the world to change the rather static and square exhibition rooms. Till Steinbrenner – another performance artist shot a whole in the wall, in the concert hall. We where all waiting for it. We where in there to see it, and still we was taken by surprise as he shot. I was seated up front – expecting him to do this rather sacral and with pathos, going all the way up front. I was sort of hoping for him to shoot the grand standing there – and fantasying of him collaborating with Cai on blowing the grand up with firecrackers. And then I jumped. Till had entered the room (he is about 210cm tall) and shot his bullet into the wall in the middle of the room and was gone before I could react. Just like an assassination in public spaces. There where no real chaos but a lot of confusion.

Talking about confusion. Cai had a project for the opening – blowing up a car with fire works. The only thing was that no one wanted to take responsibility for the security and neither him nor his assistant understood German. The problem where the mob outside. The securities need much more people and a good deal of time. Cai came up with the brilliant idea of just using six guards with a security rope between them giving the car its needed 7 meters distance to spectators. “Oh, that’s a great Idea” the head of security said when he heard about it. So of the car went with a load and many firecrackers and at the entrance there was a series of really loud, colour full and bright explosions. That more or less marked the end of the opening and the party ha begun, a lot of people being very drunk.


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