Rogaland Kunstsenter welcomes you to the exhibition Ørkendveling by Line Anda Dalmar and Christine Hansen. The opening is on 2 October from 17:00–20:00. The speech takes place at 18:00. To ensure a safe and pleasant opening, we recommend visitors arrive spread out across the evening. There is a limit of 30 people in the gallery space at any time. Visitors must provide name and phone number on arrival. The speech will be streamed on Facebook and will also be available to view afterwards.
Through field studies in Death Valley and Joshua Tree in California, the artists have used the desert as place and frame for reflecting on landscape, environment and time. The project began in spring 2018 with three weeks of fieldwork in Death Valley and Joshua Tree, and concluded in 2019 with a three-week residency at AZ (Andrea Zittel) West in Joshua Tree. A central focus in Ørkendveling is questions of observation. How do we observe the landscape? Which methods and technologies do we use? How does this shape our perception of the landscape? Ørkendveling draws on many different methods of observation – drawing, historical photographic techniques, embroidery, woodcuts, as well as photography and video. This is done with the idea that different methods give different access to the landscape and contribute unique knowledge. The project also addresses the sliding boundary between process and work. A common thread in Dalmar and Hansen's works is a kind of literal relationship between place and landscape. The works are not a springboard to something entirely different, but rather an exploration of displacements and juxtapositions. If this leads to something else, it is still a link back to the landscape.
Just as artists have sought out the Norwegian wilderness, the desert too has been an important site for reflection. In the USA a long line of artists have been drawn to this landscape, among them Georgia O'Keeffe, Agnes Martin and Donald Judd. For many of these artists it has been about a fascination with the particular light and openness of the landscape, while others have been preoccupied with the spiritual dimensions of life in the desert.
Working on this project has challenged Dalmar and Hansen's perception of the desert as an «empty» place without life. Ørkendveling reveals the fragile ecosystem in which a range of plant species, animals and insects live. The very notion of the desert as desolate and lifeless has led to large-scale damaging interventions, from nuclear weapons testing to the construction of vast wind farms and solar installations.
Christine Hansen (b. 1969) is a Stavanger-based artist and art historian. Hansen holds an MA in photography from Kunsthøgskolen i Bergen (2001) and a PhD in art history from Universitetet i Bergen (2012). She has exhibited at, among others, Tromsø Kunstforening, RAM Galleri, Galleri F15, Sogn og Fjordane Kunstmuseum and Preus Museum. From 2010 to 2019 she was associate professor of photography at Kunstakademiet i Bergen.
Line Anda Dalmar (b. 1983) lives and works in Trondheim. Dalmar holds an MA from Konstfack in Stockholm (2010) and a BA from Kunsthøgskolen i Bergen (2008). She has exhibited at, among others, Tegnerforbundet, Trondheim Kunstforening, Stavanger Kunstmuseum, RAM galleri, Galleri Babel, PublicSpaceOne (Iowa, USA), Altes Finanzamt (Berlin), Marabouparken (Stockholm), and Preus museum.
Supported by:
KMD, Universitetet i Bergen
Norsk fotografisk fond
Norske grafikeres fond
Vederlagsfondet
Kulturrådet Lanser