KONTEMPO Exhibition 2019Contemporary Textiles
A questioning play about sensation and development and our understanding of textile design now and in the future. This is what meets the guests at the exhibition "Is This Colour?" in the Round Tower’s Library Hall. Colours communicate immediately to us and affect our mood and actions. KONTEMPO, an association of textile designers, has invited all artistic professions to exhibit new works that examine the question "Is This Colour?". The works range from the colourful and expressive to the conceptual and subtle, and the exhibition includes guided tours, talks and a catalogue – more at rundetaarn.dk.
JURY
LOUISE CAMPBELL
STINE FIND OSTHER
CHARLOTTE JUL
The boardmembers of KONTEMPO and initiators of the exhibition is:
Elizabeth Kiss, Marie Hugsted, Kristine Mandsberg, Rikke H. Bjerg,
Signe Møller Jensen, Ellinor Ericsson, Marlene Klok and Laura Kirk.
Catalogue and graphic design: Daniel Schriver
Photographer: Cornelia Gramkow
Thanks to the experts in the catalogue: Anders Arhøj, Jonas Edvard, Lilian Munk Røsing,
Margrethe Odgaard, Sinddroms
Colophon: The catalogue was published as a part of the "Is this Colour" exhibition by KONTEMPO.
The exhibition takes place at Rundetaarn from the 10th of may to the 23rd of june 2019.
The exhibition has kindly been realized by the support of Nationalbankens Jubilæumsfond and Beckett Fonden.
SUBSTANS consists of one object displaying the kind of materials we see many times a day: tile, wood, glass, stone and metal.
Sara Martinsen set out to illustrate that the materials we are surrounded by are part of the colour palette our eyes observe constantly. Even though a material can never be translated into a specific colour code, it carries a texture, a tone, a matt surface, a shiny surface, a temperature, an age, the weather; all things that affect a colour and how we perceive it.
How colours and materials complement each other play an essential role when experiencing a space or a building and when applying a colour unto a surface or mixing the pigment into a certain material, the actual material itself becomes just as important as light when we relate to a colour.
The different materials are placed inside a handmade drying rack to enhance the story of colour and to make the viewer more conscious of the different qualities and colours of each individual material. Together the materials and the wood rack create a context where all materials, textures and colours interact.
With her work SUBSTANS Sara hopes to make the observer aware of the beauty of the common things and to start viewing the basic materials as part of the everyday colour palette.
Materials Wood, stone, glass, metal, tile
#FFFFFFF ARCHIVE seeks to explore the notion of WHITE by categorically collecting all materials that are white in their origin from our everyday surroundings.
This research is being transformed into a sculptural and haptic archive of contrasting surfaces, subtle nuances and material properties. The intention is to highlight and acknowledge the absence of colour and to encourage the viewer to rediscover just how versatile and complex white is when linked to materiality and contextual space.
#FFFFF Archive consists of more than 100 cubes created by melting, moulding, sewing, carving etc.They range from being constructed from substances such as latex, glue, acetone and foam to more well-known households materials like noodles, soap, candles and salt.
All cubes are presented in an organised grid to show the subtle graduation in hue in all nuances of white.
Materials Mixed materials (milk, plaster, noodles, rubber, yarn, foam, paper, salt and many more)
A living human skin is not just a surface. A living skin is the direct transition to a human's inner life. The heart. Before you get to touch your lover's skin, you travel through layers of invisible fur. This may take time. It may take a while before you get to touch the actual skin material. When you finally get there, you enter the actual merging phase.
The more you touch, the more you will merge. After a while, your touch will be visible, and you changed your lover's blueprint forever. Let it be a gentle touch. Like approaching an animal for the first time. Humble. Slow. With presence and respect.
This piece was born in West Iceland, August 2018, supported by Statens Kunstfond.
Materials ICELANDIC LOPI WOOL on cotton warp
There are many things that we as humans do not notice. We tend to overlook small details such as contrasts of colours, how the temperature of light can change the perception of colour and which materials we are surrounded by. These are all elements that help to shape our world.
The Framework is a framing, as ropes and lights divide the surroundings into smaller areas of focus. Theseshaped areas draw attention to details we otherwise would not notice.
The framing can be rearranged, as the viewer moves in and out of the installation. Consequently, by changing the angles of view, the lines of ropes and light construct different shapes and colours in relation to the setting. The lines create interwoven hollow frames that are to be filled by the colourful life of the audience and the surroundings.
By entering the installation, the perceptional experience is enhanced, as the viewer is surrounded by the many layers of ropes and lights. The transparent space encloses the viewer and opens up for a new framed focus on the surroundings.
Materials Cotton and nylon ropes and LED lights
‘Duotone’ shelving units are a study of the qualities of complementary colours as defined by artist and theorist Johannes Itten. When mixing a pair of complementary colours, the result is a dark neutral grey. Here the focus is on the duality in the meeting between the colours: So full of contrast in their encounter, but all neutral when mixed. The phenomenon is captured by covering one colour with a transparent layer of the other. You experience the colours individually on each their material, but the dense colour of the metal base is dissolved when overlain with the transparent textile.
The colours of objects stored in the units will change as well. When displayed behind a unifying filter of colour, their silhouettes melt together - making you question their true shapes and colours. In this way, the shelving units offer a small scene for creating ever-changing images framed by colour.
Eva has worked intuitively with the design of the shelving units - with the contrast of the colours in mind. They are an abstraction of a classic shelving system, being fully functional but with the main purpose to underline the sculptural effect of colour in space.
Materials Powder coated metal, textile
ComPleat is two textile objects based on the idea of sloughing in biology.
As a concept ComPleat is a (non-)living matter between being and not being. ComPleat is skin tissues; as a representation of being in between living and dead – a metamorphosis for a transformation process, being in between past, present and future.
ComPleat invites the public to interact with the textile objects. It is an invitation to touch, to enter and wrap the textile around the body or/and twist the objects, soanother side appears. While interacting, ComPleat wants to ask: "What colour is (your) skin?"
Materials Hand-pleated organza, lycra
Hemisphere is about depth of colour, surfaces and reflection. It illustrates differences in the experience of colour, departing from various ceramic characters and qualities. It is a look into the effects and sense of colour, starting from the material itself.
The installation consists of two parts. One part is a modular system of tiles in subtle shades of clean earthenware blending from a soft white to a terracotta red. Details of transparent glaze on the tiles add a gentle change in colour, and the glossy surface makes the light reflect next to the matte clay body. This plays alongside the layered relief which adds variations of shade to the visual experience. To the right from this vertical frieze hangs a hemisphere glazed in a shiny, multicoloured mother of pearl lustre. The lustre covered surface can appear white - almost invisible - but a small change in lighting or angle increases the intensity and power of the colours dramatically. The surroundings give the surface a life of its own.
The installation presents a contrast between colours shaped in a system and the uncontrolled reflections of light and colour. Figuratively the hemisphere represents a source of uncontrolled light shining down on earth which absorbs it. The two oppositional elements ultimately want to emphasise that colour is light.
Materials Red and white earthenware, transparent glaze, mother of pearl lustre
‘Colour Wheel' is about integrating surroundings with colours and is done on a large double-sided mirror. This is furthermore a study on how colours react together, from the saturated to the faithed, joined by the reflections shining through. The colours form a traditional colour wheel, but where a colour wheel is normally in a certain order, Anne Nowak randomise the order where the reflections often appear as foreground amongst the colours.
With ever-changing surroundings, the work changes. And so will the colours. Colour is in everything; everything is in colours.
Materials Mirror acrylic paint
Colour Lab is a collection of hand-prints presenting a study of contrasting hues in orange and blue, together with a large colour scale composition.
The installation is a study of variation and displacement in colour and scale realised with reactive dye on cotton-textile printed by hand. It is about the inherent instability of colour which makes it unpredictable and alive. The lack of control is emphasised through the subtle variations in the meeting between the graduated hues.
Louise Sass uses the overprinting technique, in which transparent dyes are applied to the textile in multiple layers. When layers of contrasting diluted colours are printed partly on top of each other, the result is a new and more dynamic spectrum on the textile.
The aim is to identify the essence of what can be achieved with colour by using a systematic and experimental approach, which combined with the intuitive printing-process, often delivers deep and unpredictable results. In the search for new colour combinations and compositions, she is especially interested in the emergent colours, which are the spontaneous result of the complex interaction between textile and printed hues. The goal is to create works in which colour is the subject rather than just a quality of the work.
The Colour Lab was printed in The Danish Art Workshops, Copenhagen.
Materials Reactive dye, cotton
Material Pigment Archive is an investigation of material degradation and the origin of colours. It is a collection of pigments created by grinding found objects and materials into as small pieces as possible. This way, a textile, a plastic bag, a toothbrush, or a broken ceramic bowl is ground into a physical colour experience.
The used objects and materials are primarily waste from households or production facilities. When seen at a distance, the 208 test tubes with material pigment samples look like pure colours without a recognisable origin. But as the viewer comes closer, it might become possible to differentiate certain qualities and even trace some pigments back to its original material/object.
Through the Material Pigment Archive, Maria is exploring potentials and possibilities in recycling or repurposing the materials that surround us. The colour pigments are made from materials we meet every day; textiles, paper, glass, plastic etc. What happens when we throw these materials away? How are they degraded, and will they ever disappear?
By grinding materials into colour pigments, Maria is asking the question: If all colours are made by materials – could all materials be turned into colour? And what else could they become?
Materials Various found materials, solid upcycled textile board, recycled acrylic, glass, cork.
Does Colour Matter adds a feminine and bold perspective into the monochrome tradition and discusses if the depth of mind, soul and body can be defined by - if not one, then a variation of colours? The work also challenges how texture affects our perception of colour.
In Does Colour Matter the six studies about skin colour, surface and sensitivity question our identity as man or woman – or simply as human beings. We are all vulnerable and therefore alike. The surface of our skin reveals the condition of our wellbeing or lack of same.
Facing and dealing with our own identity is a never-ending story. And being true to ourselves might bring a wider awareness to the colour in ourselves and the colour next to us. And it might matter.
Materials Cotton fabrics & canvas on blind frames treated with expansion emulsion, fabric dyes, plaster and acrylic paint.
NCS S 1080 Y20R* is a commentary on the absurdity of humanity’s innate need to pigeonhole ”things” - in this case: colours.
I toured Copenhagen with a sample of the colour NCS S 1080 Y20R in my hand; my goal was to find the colour in various guises and under various conditions. With my project, I want to explain how colour is not fixed - a colour changes due to light, form, movement, material and context. With the three exhibited objects, I’m demonstrating how conditions set the course of a colour, more than the colour itself does. The work becomes a paradoxical attempt to restrain a colour that cannot be restrained.
*NCS is a colour code language that attempts to communicate and reproduce colour and is often used industrially. But NCS also has its limitations, it reduces colour to a work tool and thereby diminishes its complexity.
Materials Dyed latex, painted steel, cotton yarn and embroidery thread
In-Situ FA is a monoprint where the colours are created by nature itself, without the conscious influence of man. Pernille Snedker Hansen merely became the attentive observer who captured the moving coloured algae on the water surface, that specific day in Fredericia.
In her daily life at the studio, the marbling bath is a mini-laboratory, a concentrated small world where natural phenomena play out and are captured in frozen moments on monoprints.
In the In-Situ FA series, the materials and the marbling process were placed outside in a burnt down ground after a catastrophic fire at Fredericia Industry Harbour in 2016. In the aftermath, only a wasteland of giant polluted puddles remained. In these puddles, several marbling sessions were performed. Wind, temperature, pollution and time became co-creators and are reflected in the monoprints that were created onsite.
One special print in this series revealed a beautiful variation of subtle coloured algae on the water surface of the dirty water puddle. The algae became the pigments on the paper and resembles a landscape that unfolds in its horizon.
Materials Acrylic paper, natural coloured alges & mosquitos wind, polution, temperature and time in Fredericia.
Coloured by desire and transition is an installation that explores the fluidity of colour and temporary texture. The soft, malleable and layered wool hovering above the hard transparent containers filled with translucent liquid investigates the possibilities of change followed by transition.
The material experimentation with wool addresses the beauty and awkwardness of change as an external possibility where touch can intervene, re-shape and sometimes undo. - Whereas the liquid transition indicates a more internal process and response to touch protected by the hard glass surface.
Materials Hand blown glass, aqua gel beards, demineralised water, atamon, acrylic paint, merino wool, bamboo and polystyrene.
Starting from the primary colours; red, yellow & blue, the work consists of a series of collages in paper, composed in colour blocks. The colours of each sketch are repeated in a printed version; reactive print on cotton canvas; the sizes of the colour blocks are repeated from the sketch; printed in several layers, so new colour variations occur.
Materials Hand-painted paper, analogue print w. reactive dyes on cotton & magnet wooden strips
Translucent Faces is a reflection of how colour and textile tactility can be integrated in an architectural context. Made of transparent vinyl, the print is developed to screen off glass walls in a modern office space. The work examines how to allow optimal daylight to pass through while blurring the detailed shapes behind the glass, and it explores how to retain the transparent qualities of glass while working with different levels of privacy.
By working with two different colours on both sides of the glass, the two overlapping patterns create a third colour in the intersections. The patterns change character depending on the colour combination and the direction fromwhich they are viewed. The print and colours interplay and interact with the daylight, creating a shadow play that changes during the day and throughout the year.
The work is a collaboration between the field of graphic design and textile design. It is a suggestion on how textile knowledge can be transferred into an alternate material and how an interdisciplinary collaboration can be a valuable element in the architecture and construction industry.
Materials Vinyl on acrylic sheets
Unwanted Pink is an installation consisting of two vessels for transporting yellow, as well as a growth of unwanted colour hidden underneath. The textile expressions, such as the weaving and the dimensionally stable rya, add tactility to the surface, and the fibres make the experience of colour both horizontal and vertical. In some places, the fibres are trying to either dissolve or hide the colour underneath. Unwanted Pink asks the questions:
is this colour? is this enough colour? is this too much colour? is this bad taste colour? is the reflection a colour? does that which is hidden have a colour?
Materials Wood, pulp, rattan, nylon, paint, mirror.
720 is made of 720 pieces of hand-cut and dyed pieces of cardboard assembled on a wooden frame. Each bit is dyed in a different shade of the colour teal. Like ruffled feathers or pixels, each small frame has its own identity, but all together they create one homogenous piece when viewed from afar.
As daylight changes, the layered surface turns into an ever-changing experience of light and emotion, as well as having the functionality of absorbing noise from its surroundings.
95% of the materials are reclaimed and recycled.
Materials Reclaimed wood and cardboard, dyed with watercolour
Being on maternity leave for the second time Iben Birch Bech experiences the life as a typical housewife again. The first time she lived in wonderful Copenhagen, but now she lives on a small island in a small town. It made her reflect on the lack of colour she sometimes feels and how hard it is to find inspiration juxtaposed to the creative, artistic and colourful life before in the world's big cities.
The reliefs are about challenging this thought and demanding to create something visual and sensual out of the humdrum family life. Zooming in on daily and weekly routines at home it’s a hunt searching for colour stories questioning dimensions, combinations and interpretations through materials, techniques, volume, texture and form. Inspired by barometers, the colours and relating materials are put together in graphic compositions rich in details, telling a visual story about different daily humdrum routines.
Materials Mixed Media
The installation is a tribute to Danish winter light and the characteristically flat landscape of Denmark. The non-colour scheme of various greys and all the subtle shades in between ask the question "Is this colour?" Highly abstracted landscapes are portrayed in different horizontally-painted blocks of subdued colours — the soft texture of the white paper clashes with the hard aluminium surface.
The installation consists of four large thin aluminium sheets (3 mm thick), sprayed white. Each sheet is 250 cm tall and 125 cm wide. The sheets are installed in a straight line using metal wire from the ceiling. The four sheets illustrates each November – December – January and February Each abstract landscape painting is 14,5 cm x 14,5cm (Gouache and watercolour on heavy copper print paper.) 98 small abstract landscape paintings will be composed and mounted on each aluminium sheet. In total, the installation consists of 392 small abstract paintings. When walking past the installation, the exhibition guest experiences a feeling of meditative travel through a winterly Danish landscape.
Materials 3 mm white sprayed painted aluminium sheets, heavy copper print paper, gouache, watercolour
Colour provides a means to observe and question an environment. This tool, central to Maud's professional activity as a colour, textile and materials designer, is also fundamental to her ongoing research and development work in this field.
The three samples presented are the result of her research in woven wood surface coating, created during her residency at the Danish Art Workshops (SVFK), Copenhagen in June and July 2018.
The project explores the notion of colour, a key component in the Danish capital’s identity, and is aimed at integrating chromatic richness into the furniture and interior design fields. An in-situ survey of colours enabled her to collect three-hundred different colour shades, all produced in dry pastel and from samples of materials from the city walls.
After completing this inventory, her objective was to develop a methodology to assemble finely-cut strips of ash tree. The samples combine the flexibility of this native hardwood, the finesse of linseed oil paint, and the structural qualities of woven material.
This research offers an invitation to take a fresh look at the possibilities of wood and weaving techniques as well as the colours that comprise the architectural environment of Copenhagen.
Materials Ash tree, linseed oil paint
Whether Pia Jensen has been in Iceland observing how the mountains are almost folded inside out, or she has found herself in the interior of a building in the Arab world where all the Moorish pattern diversity has surrounded her with mosaics, stucco, woodwork and masonry, she has had the same feeling of the world's creative power and endlessly rich space that surrounds us - be it nature or culture.
No one can embrace the whole world. Yet, by taking a small part of it and scrutinising that part, one might feel enabled to sense the greater picture.
Pia Jensen's work takes its starting point in the Moorish hexagon. The wooden frame is a representation of an infinite hexagon pattern. The frame can twist and change from open space into colourful acrylic cut-outs.
Within the playful dialogue of materials, space, shape and dimension, she seeks the answer to the question: Is this colour? Is this colour represented by the actual artwork, the reflections in the room or by the consciousness of the spectator? Is this colour - my work or everybody’s work? The infinite work of the artist. - The unending dialogue with colour and space.
Materials Wood and colored acrylic-plates
'Keep Quiet' is a textile study of variations focused on intersections and interfaces in meetings between transparency, colours, light and darkness.
Circles and square pieces build up in grid compositions of transparent layers. A dark dusty red and ink blue tulle, raw white gauze, white organdie and raw white and black organza.
Yellow is consciously deselected, to avoid competition with light created through layers, transparency, and reflection from aluminium surface. "Colour arises in the interplay between light and darkness." (Göethe)
Materials Silk, nylon, cotton, aluminium
Every weaver knows that colours weave up into dull, muddy, handwoven cloth. Picking a palette that will stay bright when mixed is one of the big colour challenges in weaving. Colours blend into new and surprising expressions.
In Colour Mountains, not only the colours but also the patterns transform.
Materials Linnen, cotton, wool, silk
