Bøthun & Damerell
Sep 24-Oct 4, 2003
Åsil Bøthun, Ian Damerell
| drawing, installation | space 1

Åsil Bøthun
“Constructed Readymades”

I usually work with objects in the context of an installation. It is important for me that the objects have a specific position in the chosen environment and that they are read within the context of it.

By quoting from Duchamp I hope to turn the idea “inside out” — these objects are constructed and then we are back to the beginning! The fire extinguisher, the paint-covered chair, the hammer and nails all add to the irony — they are associated with the making of pieces in the artist’s studio, before the work is completed….

A link is Walter Benjamin’s theory of melancholy: that it is brought about by the connection between this world and a world that is lost (and impossible to relive). I reconstruct the readymade — with a fetishist’s concern for details — using cheap cardboard, etc, and end up with a commodity that cannot be used, just observed.

Other work can be found at:
www.hostutstillingen.no and www.uks.no

Ian Damerell
“Architekton”: charcoal drawing 3.5x5.5m

I’ve been fascinated by the “power” of architecture for over 15 years now. My focus has been on places such as the all slate-built buildings from my home in North Wales. I took approximately 200 photographs of the Trevor slate quarry after closure in order to capture the moment of abandonment, when the workplace that kept virtually the whole village in work suddenly collapsed. There is a sudden change where objects have no owners any more: after generations of care, they are suddenly vulnerable.

With architekton I’ve explored the effect of format on the viewer. The instability of the image is intentional: are you inside or outside? is the darkness a way out or not? The physical size makes you feel enclosed in the piece — and without escape. I associate charcoal with Wales and I want this to be a kind of monument to the place I left so long ago.