Hanne Nielsen and Birgit Johnsen’ project at Hospice Djursland was inspired by the building’s architecture. Designed by the architectural practice C.F. Møller, the building is shaped by a striking interplay between indoors and outdoors, architecture and nature.
Room for reflection
The Reflection Room has two carefully positioned windows with respective views of the sky and a reflecting pool on the outdoor patio, which in turn mirrors part of both the room and the sky. It is this reflection and reproduction of the world that is activated by the new decorative project in a spatial montage of two video installations, two decorative figures, a graphic mural, furniture and lamps.
The video installations and the small rotating figures on the walls move very slowly, creating room for reflection and contemplation. The grey and dark colour notes on the walls and ceiling lend the room a cave-like and intimate feel that is in stark contrast to the light that pours in through the windows and draws attention to the outside world.
A considerable artistic challenge
‘It is difficult to overstate the considerable artistic challenge involved in creating a convincing setting for reflections on some of the big existential questions. With equal parts originality and sensitivity coupled with a sublime understanding of the users and the function of the room, Hanne Nielsen & Birgit Johnsen have created an immensely successful multimedia installation, which we at the New Carlsberg Foundation are certain will be greatly appreciated by the patients and their families,’ says Morten Kyndrup, board member for the New Carlsberg Foundation and Professor of Aesthetics and Culture at Aarhus University.
The artists’ vision was to create a safe and intimate space with humanity and the human body as its primary concern. They sought to create a place where the mind can run free, and where the artistic elements relate to the outside world, fusing outside and inside, before and after and the present moment into one.
Anniversary
On 1 November 2017, Hospice Djursland welcomed its first patient. Since then, about 2,000 patients and their loved ones have been admitted to the hospice. To mark the anniversary, the Reflection Room at Hospice Djursland, which has formed the setting for many thoughts and conversations over the years, has been redecorated by the artist duo Hanne Nielsen & Birgit Johnsen.
