Hordaland Kunstsenter

aiPotu's exhibition Leila can be seen in relation to their ongoing project The Island Tour – a series of island expeditions which since 2007 has led them to Iceland, Australia and the British Isles. In addition to these expeditions, they have also explored the idea of the island in other works and continually use travels as method as well as inspiration. 

aiPotu works with situations, and have the last few years completed a series of works in public space, often in relation to different art institutions, in order to create a link between the semi-public exhibition room and the public space outside. Also this time they intervene with the every day of the institution and its neighbours. 

One week before the exhibition opens Leila still appears as an undefined zone: in the gallery space is a pallet of military tents, plastic hay ball covers, a woolen blanket and a pool liner. Outside we can see tests of materials stretched between the two flag poles. The visual expression of the institution is about to be transformed to a tent, a ship or another nomadic form.

Through the exhibition’s two parts, inside and outside, the notion of inaccessibility is questioned, inaccessibility of land, history, old traditions and knowledge, at the same time as aiPotu wants to discuss the inaccessibility often conveyed onto art and art spaces. 

Based on The Island Tour the two artists were challenged to seek out the island Leila in the Strait of Gibraltar in March 2009. The journey was made, but the destination never reached. The island has since 2002 been a no man’s land, when there was a conflict of sovereignty between Spain and Morocco which almost ended in a military confrontation. The island is still under severe military control and is still recognized by different names: The Moroccan name Leila is a distorted pronunciation of the Spanish word “La isla” which means “the island”. In Spanish the island is called parsley –”Perejil”, while the Berber name is “Tura”, which means “empty”.

In relation to the exhibition the American artist and critic Zach Cahill has been invited to write a text about the exhibition, and for the opening there is review available on www.kunstsenter.no. Cahill has also contributed with another text to the exhibition, which can be obtained from Hordaland Art Centre in the exhibition period.

SteamBoat Buddah, which is the artists Mads Andreassen and Anders Holen, will play on the opening night.

This is the third exhibition of the autumn 2010 at Hordaland Art Centre, where we investigate artistic collaborations in a series of three exhibitions made by artist duos. The two first exhibitions were made by Lutz-Rainer Müller & Stian Ådlandsvik and Øyvind Renberg & Miho Shimizu.

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aiPotu is a collaboration between the artists Anders Kjellesvik and Andreas Siqueland. The two artists started working together in 2004 crossing the European continent in the shape of a number 8 with a veteran mobile home. Since then they have toured the Nordic countries and begun the ongoing project The Island Tour. aiPotu makes site-specific interventions, often of a sculptural nature, crossing over traditional boundaries of media based practices. They have exhibited at the 16th Biennale of Sydney – Revolutions Forms That Turn, Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Kunsthallen Nikolaj in Copenhagen, Bergen Kunsthall and Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo.

The exhibition is curated by Anne Szefer Karlsen and produced by Hordaland Art Centre, through a residency at L’appartement 22 (Rabat). aiPotu has received funding from Hordaland Art Centre and Arts Council Norway (Statens Utstillingsstipend) for production.