Artist: Anders Holen
Exhibition title: Doom Loop
Curated by: Kjersti Solbakken
Venue: Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo, Norway
Date: September 19 – October 20, 2019
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo
The term “doom loop” refers to a sequence of events where the outcome is negative, expansive, and repetitive. Within the finance industry this concept is used to explain the mutual dependency between the state and the banking sector, whereby the banks finance the state through obligations and the state provides guarantees for the banks if they are threatened with insolvency. “Too big to fail” was the mantra of the last financial crisis. The consequences become so momentous and unassailable that the fate of the finance industry inevitably turns into a responsibility of society. The scope and absolute presence of the economic system seems almost nature-given and becomes inherent as such in humanity. It is said that it’s easier for us to imagine the end of the world than a world without capitalism.
Object agency and how objects affect one another form the basis of Anders Holen´s artistic practice. For the exhibition in Kunstnerforbundet’s Skylight Gallery, Holen has created an installation consisting of three sculptural works that are materially and conceptually intertwined and explore themes such as genesis, extinction, and resurrection.
In the work Basilisk, two inflatable shoes are cast in concrete mixed with a specific type of bacteria that make the material self-healing. Concrete develops cracks over time and is thereby exposed to moisture, which in turn causes further damage. The sculptures in the exhibition have been created with the assistance of a team of researchers who specialize in cultivating limestone-producing bacteria spores. Mixing these bacteria into the concrete mass keep the material degradation in check. As the bacteria come into contact with water, they begin producing limestone, which is the main ingredient in concrete. As the water is consumed and the limestone is produced, the bacteria seal the cracks in the concrete, thus healing the sculpture from the inside.
A frieze-like constellation of porcelain, glass, and bronze constitutes the series of sculptures entitled Mergency Frieze. By studying various connections in nature, Holen has examined what happens when one of the links in a chain vanishes. In a food chain such as fly – frog – hawk, for example, there will be a period of time when the fly still exists in the hawk, despite the extinction of the frog. Because evolution needs time to work, the mix of atoms between fly and hawk is maintained for a certain period after the chain has been broken. The sculpture series consists of fragments taken from the remaining links of such a chain, and can be seen as a material manifestation of something immaterial – a sort of permanent relic of an impermanent relationship.
Two reliefs in silver birch depict a planet and a house that, with the assistance of 3D animation, have been unfolded and forced into each other’s basic forms. The figures can be viewed as a sort of digital inversion based on what geometricians call “squaring the circle”: a mathematical problem where the idea is to form a square with the same area as a given circle by only using geometric construction. After centuries of experiments it was proven that such squaring was unattainable, and today the phrase is used as a metaphor for carrying out the impossible.
In the work Being Dead Alive Holen looks at the role of the internet in the cultural chain of things. A series of porcelain sculptures consisting of a fax machine fused with a sextant is scattered about in a so-called exploded view and mounted as part of the exhibition’s surrounding frieze of sculptural objects. These technologies were deemed obsolete after the introduction of net-based communication and GPS, but because of the internet’s exponential growth and chaotic nature they have made a comeback as safer alternatives within navigation and information sharing. The fax machine and the sextant have both undergone a sort of death but also a resurrection, where the agency of the internet has acted as both executioner and life-giver.
Anders Holen (b. 1986) lives and works in Oslo. He graduated from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts and works within sculpture and installation. His works have been shown in institutions such as Astrup Fearnley Museet, Kristiansand Kunsthall, Giorgio Galotti gallery, the Vigeland Museum during the 9th Sculpture Biennale, Entrée Bergen, Contemporary Art Centre Vilnius, Kunsthall Oslo, Helper Projects New York. The artist is represented by Giorgio Galotti gallery in Turin.
Anders Holen, Doom Loop, 2019, exhibition view, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo
Anders Holen, Doom Loop, 2019, exhibition view, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo
Anders Holen, Doom Loop, 2019, exhibition view, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo
Anders Holen, Doom Loop, 2019, exhibition view, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo
Anders Holen, Basilisk, Concrete and healing agent (Bacillus strain B2-E2-1)
Anders Holen, Basilisk, Concrete and healing agent (Bacillus strain B2-E2-1)
Anders Holen, Basilisk, Concrete and healing agent (Bacillus strain B2-E2-1)
Anders Holen, Basilisk, Concrete and healing agent (Bacillus strain B2-E2-1)
Anders Holen, Basilisk, Concrete and healing agent (Bacillus strain B2-E2-1)
Anders Holen, Doom Loop, 2019, exhibition view, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo
Anders Holen, Being Dead Alive, Porcelain, steel
Anders Holen, Being Dead Alive, Porcelain, steel
Anders Holen, Being Dead Alive, Porcelain, steel
Anders Holen, Being Dead Alive, Porcelain, steel
Anders Holen, Being Dead Alive, Porcelain, steel
Anders Holen, Being Dead Alive, Porcelain, steel
Anders Holen, Being Dead Alive, Porcelain, steel
Anders Holen, Being Dead Alive, Porcelain, steel
Anders Holen, Being Dead Alive, Porcelain, steel
Anders Holen, Being Dead Alive, Porcelain, steel
Anders Holen, Doom Loop, 2019, exhibition view, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, cast and hand-painted glass, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, bronze, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, bronze, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, cast and hand-painted glass, silver birch, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, pencil on paper, silver birch, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, cast and hand-painted glass, pencil on paper, silver birch, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, cast and hand-painted glass, pencil on paper, silver birch, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, bronze, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, bronze, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, cast and hand-painted glass, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, cast and hand-painted glass, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, bronze, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, cast and hand-painted glass, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, cast and hand-painted glass, steel
Anders Holen, Doom Loop, 2019, exhibition view, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, bronze, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, cast and hand-painted glass, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, bronze, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, bronze, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, cast and hand-painted glass, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, cast and hand-painted glass, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, cast and hand-painted glass, silver birch, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, cast and hand-painted glass, silver birch, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, bronze, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, cast and hand-painted glass, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, bronze, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, cast and hand-painted glass, steel
Anders Holen, Doom Loop, 2019, exhibition view, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, bronze, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, cast and hand-painted glass, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, cast and hand-painted glass, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, bronze, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, cast and hand-painted glass, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, bronze, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, bronze, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, bronze, steel
Anders Holen, Mergency Frieze, Porcelain, bronze, steel
Anders Holen, Doom Loop, 2019, exhibition view, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo