With a collection of delicate transparent screens in a circle formation, Mille Kalsmose establishes a force field in the middle of the room. Meanwhile, NASA’s mystifying sound recordings from Saturn’s Rings are played back through a speaker in the middle of the circle.
Relations
The standing screen figures stand in a circle facing each other. Upright and slender, almost resembling satellite dishes, they appear to emit, receive or transmit signals. The different figures appear to be related, like members of a large family who have been called to assembly. Despite the differences in form and materials, there is no hierarchy among them. The positioning of a given figure gives rise to particular spatial configurations and relations. These flat statuettes are actually quite indistinct and are thus open to our imagination and projections, challenging us to give up any notion of rationality and search for meaning at a deeper level.
Cosmic connections
We recognize Saturn on the beautiful system of rings that encircles the planet. Kalsmose seems to be recreating a similar system of rings with staggered semi-circles in iron, wood, moss and meteorites on the floor. Kalsmose fashions the materials into a configuration that mirrors the giant constellation in outer space; a microcosm within a macrocosm. The unfathomable system of moons, lightyears away, suddenly becomes concrete and sensuous. The installation points to our own interdependence: the interconnectedness and mutual relatedness of things. In this manner, Kalsmose highlights our urge to understand our place in the cosmic system.
The installation is part of the exhibition All Together at Kunsten in Aalborg from 8 October 2020 to 5 April 2021.
About Mille Kalsmose
Mille Kalsmose (b. 1972) is part of a generation of younger artists who work with installations as their medium. Her sculptural installations are characterized by an explorative approach to the use of materials and found objects. She often collaborates with neurologists, psychologists and sociologists when she creates her works of art. Kalsmose graduated from Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (Autonomous University of Barcelona) and also studied at Bio Art Lab at the School of Visual Arts in New York. In her practice she examines the relationship between human existence and the world around us. She has exhibited in a variety of venues in Denmark and abroad, including at ARoS (Aarhus, Denmark), Museo de Artes Visuales – MAVI (Museum of the Visual Arts; Santiago, Chile), United Nations Headquarters (New York, USA), ITAMI Museum (Museum of Arts & Crafts; Hygo, Japan), Horsens Art Museum (Denmark), Den Frie, Centre of Contemporary Art (Copenhagen, Denmark), Kastrupgårdsamlingen (Kastrupgård Collection; Kastrup, Denmark) and most recently in Politikens Galleri (Politiken’s Gallery; Copenhagen, Denmark).
