FORUM MASTER NIGHT: SYNNØVE VIK - THE POLITICS OF NATURE: OLAFUR ELIASSONS INSTALLATIONS
Because Eliasson´s works are strikingly sensual and their titles bear associations to nature, they are often described as sublime. The installations also create social situations and spaces where people meet and interact, and are therefore seen as examples of relational aesthetics. At the same time, Vik points out that Eliasson consciously reveals the underlying structure of his works. Thus breaking the immediate illusion and participation, and encourages the viewer to reflect upon his own position and situation. She argues a political awareness in the experience of Eliassons installations.
On Master Night, Synnøve Vik will present her MA-thesis, and how she arrived at her conclusions through analysis of the works Beauty (1993), 360 º room for all colours (2002) and Multiple Grotto (2004), and reading of Lyotard´s theories on the sublime, Bourriaud´s relational aesthetics and Ranciere´s views on the relation between politics and aesthetics.
The presentation is given in Norwegian.
Synnøve Marie Vik finished her MA-studies of art history at the University of Bergen in 2009. She has been working at BIT Teatergarasjen, as Exhibition Coordinator at The Norwegian Association for Arts and Crafts, as a critic in the magazine Billedkunst, and as a freelance writer. Vik is also studying curatorial practice at Bergen National Academy of the Arts, she is the curator of Opplandsutstillingen 2011 as well as an exhibition at Lillehammer Art Museum this autumn, and recently started her PhD in visual culture, inrelation to the project Nomadikon at the University of Bergen.
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Master Night is a series of lectures where both MA students and recently graduated art historians present their MA dissertations to a public. With Master Night Hordaland Art Centre wishes to bridge the gap between the academic and practicing art scenes in Bergen, and create a place for interaction between students and professionals.
Eva Rem Hansen is responsible for this program and Master Night is made possible due to good help from the study committee of Art History at the University of Bergen.