The Do-It-Yourself sculpture as I made it in my studio kitchen this summer

Anal Sex, Womens Clothing and Everything Else Good in Life
installed at Art Copenhagen 2007

Photos from kopenhagen.dk

Today my publishing company Forlaget Thomas Hallas Øvlisen has recieved its first ISBN.

I am working on 2 books of drawings.

1. Almost Insignificant Drawings of Almost Insignificant Things. 16 life size pencil drawings on A6 size paper of various objects.
2. Remote Control. 16 life size pencil drawings on A4 paper of Remote Controls

The drawings are coming a long nicely, but I have no deadline. Maybe x-mas shopping.

I will also at some point publish my ongoing project -
Sweden Sucks, photographs from around the world containing the colors blue and yellow.

I øjeblikket gennenmlever jeg en dyb frustration over det provincielle københavn og
kunstmarkedet generalt i hele verden.

Der har været en sand explosion af interesse for kunst indenfor de sidste 5 år, som
antallet af gallerier og kunstmesser rundt om i verden kan bevidne, men også
besøgstallene på disse steder viser at interessen er stigende.

De mange gallerier har gjort det lettere for kunstnere at blive eksponeret og har skabt
en bredde i kunsten som sjældent er set tidligere. Det er super fedt. Der er nogle få
samlere, som er interesserede i samtidskunst og køber rup og stup af enhver første
udstilling. Prisen er lav og kunsten sjældent skadelig. Dvs. på det seneste er en
kedelig tendens skudt frem, som for mig blev bekræftet og kulminerede på Art
Copenhagen 2007.

Det virker som om mange af de små gallerier nu langsomt mærker hverdagen og en
begyndende kamp for at overleve - det er selvfølgelig svært, og især fordi at samlerne
ikke altid er så ville med at købe anden udstilling. Priserne er højere og kunsten ofte,
desværre, ikke bedre. Det er svært at være kunstner og svært at lave god kunst, og
endnu sværre at udvikle sin kunst. Især hvis det skal ske på markedsvilkår og i et tempo,
som følger modens sæssoner og mediernes iver efter nyt. Det virker som mange gallerier
smider deres egen linie - deres valg og ide om hvad kunst er - til fordel for en markedsbestemt retning, som følger hvad køber vil hænge på væggen.

Det minder meget om kunsthandel, hvor gallerier som Faurschou køber kunst og sælger
det videre. Oftest ekstremt dyre mesterværker, hvor der er en garanteret prisstigning, som
på andre salgbare vare -

We are commodities brokers, William. Now, what are commodities?
Commodities are agricultural products. Like coffee, that you had for breakfast. Wheat, which is used to make bread.
Pork bellies, which is used to make bacon, which you might find in a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich.
Then there are other commodities like… frozen orange juice…and gold.
Though, of course, gold doesn’t grow on trees like oranges.
-Trading Places

På samme måde vælger gallerier kunstnere som producerer værker der passer til det
velsmurte og kørende marked. Det bliver på den måde en nedadvendt kedelig spiral.
Køberne kommer for at finde noget nyt ungt kunst. De kigger og finder en masse de kan
lide, men er ikke blevet udfordret. De er ikke blevet stillet overfor et valg og kunsten har
tabt. De eneste tabere der findes er kunstnere og kunsten. Kunstnere, som på uærlig vis bliver opfordret til at forstætte ned af en forkert vej og kunstnere, som ikke bliver vist fordi de prøver at følge en vej, som ikke er belagt med allerede anderkendte brosten og accepeterede estetiske kørelinier.

This is another free do it yourself art project. This time it is an assembly relief.

Don’t Let The Sun Go Down
Mixed media
Various Dimension
2007

Instructions -

Take any relatively flat rectangular object and hang it on a wall, preferably up side down, and so that the edge is against the lower edge of any power outlet wherever you feel like it. It could be your living room or in home office or even at your work or in public. Just go for it.

Not because I am not part of the show. A lot of cool young Danish artists aren’t. Not because the art is bad. But because it could have been so cool. It could have been fantastic. I am so super disapointed with the show Mad Love at Arken and I haven’t even seen it. I have seen the catalogue, and that is all I have to see because I know all the artists in the show and have seen them before in other museums all over the world.

I thought that Arken had admitted their own limited exposure to the explosive art market of the new millennium and looked else where for support. I thought they had looked to the collectors to find art not shown in museums - art flying under the radar of the institutions, but still valued and approved by the major collectors in Denmark. Seeing that they(Arken Museum) don’t have the guts to pick out the best young art around they hooked up with the collectors to use their guts, but instead of picking out unseen young talent with the need of museum accredentials, they went all the way in their woosing out and picked artists already famous and secured in the cashed out canon of the art market. Crap.

Except for Troels Carlsen and Jesper Dahlgaard. Artists like Jake and Dinos Chapman are on view. FOr what reason. Who cares. What is going on. I didn’t go to the opening, but the art stars of the market controlled art scene are the CRAZY collectors.

Yahoo. Great. Fantastic.

Reading the catalogue Ole Faarup tastes his own sweat so hard that Narcissus is called back from the dead.

“Made for me and no one else” - “I am so special”.

Jesus Christ - You paid the price. What ever. So being afraid to hang their hat on their own rack, they have hung it on the heads of the collectors, but chosen to show only the feeble and market driven shopping of these few individuals whos single credential for advising on good or bad is their wallet and years spent buying art. True to the times, but is it true to art? What ever that means.

Don’t get me wrong. Supporting young art is awesome, and most young artist in Copenhagen sell out their shows if it is flat or in any other way easy to store. The minute the prices gets anywhere near supporting the financial needs of a single person living in a one bedroom, it is not so easy. And it shouldn’t be. Buying art should be a big thing. Something looked forward to, carefully selected and studied and weighed up against other big investments in ones life. If you merely just like it, then don’t buy it. If you can easily overcome the expense, get something really worth while. Don’t follow the line to the nearest show of drawings with splashes of paint. It is not easy to buy art and it never will be and it has to take a long time.

Anyway enough of that. The show could have been so cool, and done so much for a lot of young artist needeing an institutional stamp of approval. In stead it showcased a really sad staff of curators or who ever put on the show. The potential of a great show that could have made a difference is lost in what appears to be a kiss ass of kiss ass’ers show.

ADDENDUM

I have been thinking about it, and I can’t seem to figure out what the exhibition really puts on display. The vanity of the collectors or the incredible lack of conviction from the curators. The blame is definitely on the museum for a wasted opportunity. They could have blamed a raw show of young unseen talent on the collections of collectors, instead they put the focus on themselves for lack of vision in a money controlled art market. It is sad that a museum like Arken lacks the direction and commitment it takes to be at the head of the game. I appreciate the collectors utilizing the opportunity to show their collection and share it with the public. It is a full circle - collectors creates museums that becomes public and then now reaches out to the collectors.

http://www.arken.dk/exhibition_item.asp?ID=16101

Here are two free sculptures for you to make when ever you want.

1. Again and Again and Again and Again, 2007
Mixed Media,
Various Dimensions

Instructions: Take all the furniture in your tv-room and stack it on top of each other.

2. Favorites are forever, 2007
Mixed media,
Various Dimensions

Instructions: Take your favorite books and stack them on your bedside table.

If you want you can take a picture of them and send it to me - thomas(AT)ovlisen.com

I have made one for my self at my studio and loved it.