Kjersti Sundland
“Concepts of O”
The thematic core of the exhibition “Concepts of O” revolves around forgotten and discredited research into transfers of energy between human and non-human. Through video, sound, sculpture, prints and hypnosis sessions, artist Kjersti Sundland explores how currents of affect and energy are interwoven with material and mental processes. The works deal with altered states of consciousness and the limits of language in describing states where the boundaries between what we call reality, fantasy, dream and waking are dissolved. The mineral copper holds a central place in the exhibition, with works addressing its electrical conductivity and its use in the networks that connect the world.
In the 18th century, the German Anton Mesmer categorised therapeutic trance states through his “system of mutual dependence”. He held that trance states were induced by what he called animal magnetism – an energy moving through and affecting both the living and the non-living; a planetary force that could heal as well as cause illness in body and soul. Mesmer’s work on animal magnetism is often cited as having led to the discovery of hypnotic trance.
The title of Sundland’s exhibition is a term borrowed from psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion. For Bion, true insight is in a constant process of becoming, in brief flashes and fragments, beyond what can be articulated and put into words. Both Mesmer’s animal magnetism and Bion’s concept of O have roots reaching into occult and mystical traditions. They explored different spaces of experience and states that lie beyond language and consciousness.
During the exhibition period, hypnosis sessions will be held in the evenings. The work “Magnetic Sleep” is a collaboration with musician and hypnotherapist Martin Mikkelsen. Sundland and Mikkelsen have worked together for four years and produced several artworks together.
“Concepts of O” presents the artistic outcomes of Kjersti Sundland’s PhD; the artistic research project “In The Presence of Phantoms” at the Art Academy – Department of Contemporary Art, Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design (KMD), University of Bergen. The exhibition marks the beginning of a collaboration between RKS and KMD to bring artistic research from the PhD programme to audiences in Rogaland.
The exhibition is supported by:
Arts Council Norway
Arts Council Norway – Fund for Sound and Image
Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond
KMD