What happens when you take one of the small triangular milk cartons from a meeting room, enlarge it about 25 times, and produce it in stainless steel? With the artwork Frontier, this is precisely the question Oskar Koliander brings to life. Through his striking intervention in the landscape, the milk cartons transform their appearance, reminding us of other significant interventions in landscapes and terrains; the milk cartons now resemble coastal defense elements or tank traps, known as “dragon’s teeth.” Frontier is, in essence, a materialization of various overlapping meanings and expressions, reminding us of how agriculture, war, politics, and climate catastrophe are inextricably linked in a time when war, genocide, and climate change demand action and an understanding of the complex consequences for children, adults, and the planet.
Oskar Koliander graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (2017) and the Royal College of Art, London (2015). In his artistic practice, Koliander actively engages with specific surroundings, exploring how the technologized and globalized reality affects people and the world around us, and the influence of technology, economics, politics, and climate change on life, development, and the environment.
“Frontier” was created for the exhibition La-la-landscape, which was shown during the Alive Festival in Thisted, Denmark 2024. The project is curated by Anne Møller Christensen and Sara Løvschall Grøntved from the exhibition space Skal Contemporary and is kindly supported by the Danish Arts Foundation, The Agency for Culture and Palaces, the Færch Foundation and Thisted Municipality.
The sculptures are on view at Kunsthal Thy in the fall 2024.
