SPRING SALON

Caroline Achaintre  Gerasimos Floratos  Lucia Pizzani  Christine Roland  Guadaloup Vilar  Tom Volkaert  

AURORA

Paola Petrobelli  Richard Woods  

Work from Home

Rebecca Ackroyd  Heidi Bucher  Emily Moore  Kaari Upson  

Behind Closed Doors

Richard Woods  

Open and Enclosed

Barnaby Hosking  

Eva Fabregas

Eva Fabregas  

FUNKA

Brice Guilbert  Takuro Kuwata  

Dog Smile

Ketuta Alexi-Meskhishvili  

Il silenzio non m'inganna

Alessandro Piangiamore  

Fantasia

Caroline Achaintre  Christine Roland  Jonathan Trayte  

Ah Sun-flower ! Weary of Time

Jean-Marie Appriou  

Flora and Fauna

Angelique de Folin  Harumi Klossowska de Rola  

Lydia Gifford

Lydia Gifford  

Hypnagogia

Maria Thurn und Taxis  

Le Ravissement des Couleurs

Pierre Lesieur  

Visual Vertigo

Anton Alvarez  

Havana

Leandro Feal  

Laesae Majestatis

Egle Jauncems  

The Weather in Russia is Fine

Kjetil Berge  

Tropicana

Anton Alvarez  Jonathan Trayte  

Of Things Long Forgotten

Radhika Khimji  Anne Roger-Lacan  

The Beast Within

Maria Thurn und Taxis  

Nomansland

Antony Easton  

Seven Days of Luck

Michel Pérez Pollo  

Eclectic Dreamers

Ching-yuk Jade Ng  Madeleine Roger-Lacan  Faye Wei Wei  

Transition

Angelique de Folin  

Kookoo

James Franco  

9 Times the Modern Man and Moon

Alasdair McLuckie  

Spring Awakenings - Frühlingserwachen

Dean Adams  

Strange I've Seen That Face Before.....

Caroline Achaintre  Anne Roger-Lacan  

Fat Squirrel

James Franco  

In Praise of Shadows

Barnaby Hosking  

Wrapper's Delight

Anton Alvarez  

Weight and Measure

Martin Creed  Jose Dávila  Richard Long  Pedro Cabrita Reis  Fredrik Vaerslev  

The Cosmic Artisan

Elena Bajo  Dieter Hammer  Ciarán Ó Dochartaigh  Gregory Polony  Artie Vierkant  

Spazio Luce

Alberto Di Fabio  

Magnificent Obsession

Matthias Brunner  

Abstract Thoughts

James White  

The Weather in Russia is Fine

Kjetil Berge

22 November 2017- 18 January 2018
Siegfried contemporary Private showroom, 16 Bassett Road, London W106JJ

Berge's work addresses the inter-connectivity between people and how a real connection can be easily lost when we substitute technology or dogmatic ideology for direct human contact. How do we communicate to solve mutual problems?

The backbone of the show is the video Breaking the Ice (2013) documenting Berge's mid-winter drive in an ice cream van. Setting out from London, he travels up via Scandinavia, Estonia and Russia, to Kirkenes on the north-eastern border of Norway and Russia, stopping off to engage with passers-by, distributing ice cream in return for conversations about the weather. The title of the show is a quote from one of the conversations. Is talking about the weather an opening to meaningful interaction, or is it a screening of real communication, a detour to avoid difficult discussions about what happens when the ice cream is gone?

A video from Berge’s recent collaboration with Jason Havneraas, The Ice Cream Eaters (2014) is shown alongside Breaking the Ice.

The large sculpture in the exhibition bears the title Concorde, referring both to agreement and referring to the ambitious technological aeronautic endeavour, ultimately abandoned. A set of stairs invites us to ascend the towering pulpit-like structure. At the summit we are faced with the immediacy of a domestic sphere in the form of a crocheted fabric screen. This is mounted at the front like a propeller or windmill. Where do we direct our questions, air opinions or exchange viewpoints? Through the material, at it, away from it? How do we orientate ourselves and avoid paranoia?

The Future of Loran is the title of one of the works from Berge’s recent series of collages. Loran was a radar navigation system developed in the United States during World War II, recently closed down amidst controversy. One of the largest, original masts is near Berge's home on the Lofoten Islands in the north of Norway. Combining warning tapes, sweet wrappers, photos and patterning structures, low-tech coded messages are stuck together, transmitting the recurring themes of the exhibition. They use humble everyday means to signal an alarm on short-term consumer gratification and its effects on the world. As explorations, they are jottings to develop Berge’s processes of thinking about how we can communicate. How to solve the urgent problems of our collective destiny?

Berge’s practise predominantly takes the form of filmed performative pieces, sculptures, installations and photography. Drawing on the personal and political, he uses an exploratory approach to making art that informs each project as it develops. By fostering opportunities for collaboration on different levels he often involves contributors in his work. Berge likes to encourage the spontaneous, opening up potential for creativity in unforeseen ways. For the 9th Havana Biennial, Cuba Berge showed A BAILAR, 2006 a social sculpture attracting crowds providing Hip-Hop, poetry and vocal performances. At W!7, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, Berge did the project ALYANS, 2009 a stab at learning Turkish informed by the Turkish Norwegian Immigrant scene in Oslo. Breaking the Ice, 2013 was made for the arts festival Barents Spektakel, Kirkenes, produced by NNKS, Svolvær. Currently he enjoys a very productive collaboration with the artist Jason Havneraas. Berge is also on the artistic board of LIAF, Lofoten International Arts Festival, Norway and appreciates his various roles in education. He is continually motivated by his commute between the UK and Norway.

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Kjetil Berge


INSTALLATION VIEW

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Kjetil Berge


INSTALLATION VIEW

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Kjetil Berge


INSTALLATION

Tropicana

Anton Alvarez Jonathan Trayte