My interest for natural science reflects in my artistic work. My projects explore the sky as an object and peoples perception of our surrounding which has brought me towards a search how things are connected. This starting point has led to questions concerning weather modification and environmental problems which in the end effect us all.
My work has developed towards a research how sky is being used to represent utopia, symbolising hope and future, creating an illusion of perfection in media and commercial ads and being presented to us in a utopian context.
Ongoing projects commence
at a time called magic hour. Magic hour (often erroneously called golden hour)
is the hour before and after the sun rises and sets, at which time a specific
photographic effect is achieved with the quality of the light.
During this time, the sun illuminates the clouds while everything else becomes
shadow. The light is very saturated and warm. This short moment reflect our
romantic view of heaven, showing its most sensual and intense appearance. During
the shooting of Days of Heaven (1978), director of photography, Nestor Almendros,
use almost exclusively light during "magic hour" to gain that warm,
low and flattering light.
... a favourite cinematographer's moment as the sun dips beneath the horizon and can no longer be found, but before darkness falls, when a residue of light coats the earth like a smear of milk on the lens. So fragile is the light that, while you take it for granted in broadest day, as it dies you see it as a thing in itself. "Magic hour" is a euphemism, because it's not an hour but around 25 minutes at the most. It is the moment when the sun sets and after the sun sets and before it is night, the sky has light but there is no actual sun. The light is very soft and there is something magic about it. It limited us to around twenty minutes a day but it did pay on the screen. It gave some kind of magic look, a beauty and romanticism."
Nestor Almendros, Director of photography in Days of Heaven 1978.
This moment is frequently used in commercial purpose such as marketing
of cities through their skylines. The sky contributes with its dramatic colour
and enhance the contour of the city. The word skyline has 2 meanings:
1 - The line along which the surface of the earth and the sky appear to meet;
true horizon.
2 -The outline of a group of buildings or a mountain range seen against the
sky; visible horizon
A skyline is best described as the overall or partial view of a silhouette
of a city's tall buildings and structures consisting of many skyscrapers in
front of the heaven in the background. It can also be described as the artificial
horizon that a city's overall structure creates. Skylines serve as a kind
of fingerprint of a city, as no two skylines are alike. There are different
ways of grading a skyline. This is a sensitive topic which often create debate
among enthusiasts. The concept skyline is often connected to wealth and high-status
living.
Amongst the top lists one can find priorities where hight of buildings
play the biggest role.
Here, we find cities like Hongkong, New York, and Dubai at top ranking. Other
lists focus on aesthetic appearance and most spectacular photographs.
Here, one always find Hongkong, Chicago and New York at top rank. Despite
method or criteria to reach final result some cities always place themselves
at top like Hongkong, Shanghai, Chicago, New York, and Tokyo.
So one can draw the conclusion that there is a general consensus to cities
belonging to the elite of today.
At the group exhibition SPREE-First Stop at Cirkulationscentralen in Malmö I presented my piece JUST SKY, three large photographs positioned in different hights on the walls of the gallery. The photographs showed cut out skys with white space below, architect illustrations from developing housing programs around Europe, where i have removed the buildings and saved "just sky". In Japan spring 2005 I exhibited my artist book JUST SKY based on sky cut outs from japanese architect firms and photographs. For my recent work I have continued to work with our perception of the colour "sky blue" using diagrams and illustrations from scientific reports as starting point. blue story project will in the future be published as an art book.
Most of my work is lens based. But I also use mediums such as painting and installation.
flatliner, 2007. Colour photo, 70 x 100 cm |
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line (Hongkong) , 2007. Colour photo, 70 x 100 cm |
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line (Chicago) , 2007. Colour photo, 70 x 100 cm |
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line (New York), 2007. Colour photo, 70 x 100 cm |
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line (Shanghai), 2007. Colour photo, 70 x 100 cm |
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Fade of Shade (inverse), 2006Colour photo, 55x80 cm. |
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