Aftermath reflects Rose Eken’s great interest in and contact with the rock scene and the environment surrounding it. Her artistic treatment of the rock universe inspires thoughts and reflections that expand into broader perspectives and thus goes beyond a simple representation of the debris from a given event. In shaping recognizable everyday items in ceramic, Eken zooms in on the mundane, trivial aspects we typically overlook or take for granted.
Elevating litter to a different level
It was a concert with the band Slayer during the Copenhagen metal festival Copenhell in 2017 that provided the inspiration for the installation. After most of the festival participants had left the site Eken stayed behind to document the litter that had accumulated and the story it told. In Aftermath litter is elevated to artistic composition, as the objects left behind are recreated in paper clay. The floor is strewn with lighters, shot tubes, trampled plastic cups, cigarette butts, a lost iPhone and water bottles. This myriad of concert paraphernalia appear at once realistic and oddly disproportioned, as Eken deliberately utilizes the shrinking that occurs when the individual items are fired.
Repetition as method
The installation contains no fewer than 1967 pieces. Eken is fascinated by the sheer scale of the project, as the large number of objects brought together in one place gives the installation an overwhelming impact. Just as music repeats bars, tempos and interludes, her installation too revolves around repetition and processual aspects. By creating so many identical objects and bringing them together in one big jumble she deflates any notion of exclusivity and stardom.
In some regards, Eken’s work practice is reminiscent of the ethnographer’s extensive field studies into culture, history, memory and perception. By capturing the potential of the mundane objects that happen to be on hand, Eken offers an insight into contemporary life and popular culture.
The Afterbeat exhibition is on display at Horsens Art Museum until 13 January 2019.
About the artist
Rose Eken (b. 1976) graduated from the Royal College of Art in London in 2003. She received great critical acclaim for her solo exhibition Remain In Light at The Hole Gallery in New York and her Tableau exhibition at V1 Gallery in Copenhagen. Eken’s work includes sculpture, embroidery, miniatures, drawing and video installations. Her large-scale decoration at RAGNAROCK – the museum for pop, rock and youth culture in the city of Roskilde west of Copenhagen – which was also funded by a grant from the New Carlsberg Foundation, was unveiled earlier this year. Read more about the decoration here.
