You die so slowly you think you’re alive
YOU DIE SLOWLY YOU THINK YOU’RE ALIVE
You Die So Slowly You Think You’re Alive, year 2011
Performance (duration 12 min.), drawing size 120 x 120 cm.
Cooperation with: Tone Berg Størseth
Installation views: Skien kunstforening, Skien
Photo credit: Tone Berg S.
This performative work, realized together with Tone Berg Størseth, is based on a time-consuming drawing process which Tone produced over the period of three months preceding the actual performance. The drawing consists of a 150X150cm sheet upon which the motif of repeated, thin freehand strokes is applied, in an uninterrupted manner - from top to bottom of the sheet and drawn from left to right. The drawing functions as a documentation of one’s existence over time. During the performance at Skien kunstforening, Shwan used this drawing as the substrate for recording his own mark. In the course of a few minutes, he covered Tone’s drawing with paint, so that the lines would no longer be visible. These two different records appear equally important in the history of the sheet. The work focuses on what has happened within the motif’s limited surface and may be read as a production process with the intention of making the existence of two participants look more concrete, despite their different cultural preferences: a symbolic act that functions as a meeting point for their individual artistic oeuvres and various issues connected with identity and existence.
You Die So Slowly You Think You’re Alive, year 2011
Performance (duration 12 min.), drawing size 120 x 120 cm.
Cooperation with: Tone Berg Størseth
Installation views: Skien kunstforening, Skien
Photo credit: Tone Berg S.
This performative work, realized together with Tone Berg Størseth, is based on a time-consuming drawing process which Tone produced over the period of three months preceding the actual performance. The drawing consists of a 150X150cm sheet upon which the motif of repeated, thin freehand strokes is applied, in an uninterrupted manner - from top to bottom of the sheet and drawn from left to right. The drawing functions as a documentation of one’s existence over time. During the performance at Skien kunstforening, Shwan used this drawing as the substrate for recording his own mark. In the course of a few minutes, he covered Tone’s drawing with paint, so that the lines would no longer be visible. These two different records appear equally important in the history of the sheet. The work focuses on what has happened within the motif’s limited surface and may be read as a production process with the intention of making the existence of two participants look more concrete, despite their different cultural preferences: a symbolic act that functions as a meeting point for their individual artistic oeuvres and various issues connected with identity and existence.
