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”Don’t you think it’s a little early for a retrospective?” installation view
Steffen Håndlykken, ”Don’t you think it’s a little early for a retrospective?”
Leif Magne Tangens, November 15 – December 6, 2007
Leif Magne Tangens is happy to present a retrospective exhibition in anticipation of Steffen Håndlykken’s graduation in 2008 from the National Academy of the Arts in Oslo.
”Don’t you think it’s a little early for a retrospective?” features work spanning the entire career of the artist, from 2003 to 2007.
Since 2004, visitors to the Astrup-Fearnley Museum of Modern Art in Oslo have enjoyed free entrance to exhibitions. This policy is in part financed through a service for
mobile phones. The traditional information posters in the galleries have been replaced with small phone numbers visitors can call to get – for a modest
fee – an explanation of the artwork on display. Apart from the numbers, the museum walls are left blank, without interfering information.
This move highlights a key aspect of the museum’s collection, which largely consists of work from 1965 onward. The art of this period, often labelled post-modern, increasingly
depended on information rather than visual form, in an attempt to escape the commodification and fetishization of art objects. As it turns out, the
audience’s desire for explication sells the service, making a mockery of the belief in distribution of information as an escape from the marketplace.
“Untitled (Museum of Modern Art)” (2005) is a scale model of the Astrup-Fearnley Museum, empty and devoid of information. Juxtaposedwith the model,
bold black lettering on the wall declares “Free for those who can afford it, very expensive for those who can’t”.Quoting the 1987 film “Withnail & I” (Bruce Robinson),
the text is an oblique commentary on social distinction. In the film the unemployed actors,Withnail and “I”, lie about being Eton men to Withnail’s snobbish uncle Monty,
in order to borrow his country cabin. When “I”expresses his unease with the sham, Withnail tells him it is the only way to gain access to the cabin, which is,
precisely, “free for those who can afford it,very expensive for those who can’t.” Håndlykken redistributes the Astrup-Fearnley’s mobile guide
to Skien in “Untitled (103,7 Mhz of Modern Art)” (2007), using asmall radio transmitter and a recording from a mobile phone.
For the duration of the show, visitors to Leif Magne Tangenscan tune in to free information on Astrup Fearnley’s current show.
“Observe” (2003-2007) similarly calls attention to the machinationsof the art world. In a careful scrubbing and polishing of half of the gallery floor in Leif Magne
Tangens hallway, the marks of wear and tearin the rest of the gallery are made visible. While the surface of work itself cancels out all traces of activity,
it is the grit and dirt and detritus that encrustthe remainder of the gallery’s operation that is brought to attention.
Steffen Håndlykken lives and works in Oslo, Norway.
Please contact the gallery for further information.
LEIF MAGNE TANGENS, Henrik Ibsens gate 3, 3 etg. 3724 Skien
The mp3's from Håndlykken's exhibition can be downloaded below (approx. 10 MB in total). Right click and save the file or stream the track directly:
BRUCE NAUMAN, RUN FROM FEAR FUN FROM REAR
RICHARD PRINCE, SPIRITUAL AMERICA
ANDY WARHOL, BIG ELECTRIC CHAIR
CINDY SHERMAN, UNTITLED #429
JEFF KOONS, MICHAEL JACKSON AND BUBBLES
NAN GOLDIN, GREER AND ROBERT ON THE BED
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”Free for those who can afford it, very expensive for those who can’t” and ”Untitled (Museum of Modern Art)” (both 2005), installation view,vinyl lettering; 80 cm x 200 cm and foamboard, cardboard, pins; 92 cm x 40 cm x 16 cm.
”Untitled (Museum of Modern Art)” (2005),foamboard, cardboard, pins; 92 cm x 40 cm x 16 cm.
"Untitled (103,7 Mhz of Modern Art)” (2007), MDF, iPod with transmitter, radio; 21 cm x 17 cm x 4 cm, radio broadcast: 26’06 min.
"Untitled (103,7 Mhz of Modern Art)” (2007), detail
”Observe” (2003-2007), installation view,soap, water, polish; 120 cm x 500 cm.
