The blue fluted porcelain, which to connoisseurs all over the world is synonymous with Danish porcelain and is Royal Copenhagen's top-selling dinner service, forms the basis of the decoration of the two elements of the work consisting of a physical object the swing and the body in the form of a stop-motion film. As a young ceramic artist, I regard the blue fluted porcelain as a great cultural heritage which on the one hand is difficult to live up to, and on the other hand is quite suffocating. In other words, I perceive it as a gift adding to the Danish cultural heritage, but also as a yoke of tradition. In my opinion, the reinterpretation of the blue fluted pattern has reached a level of exaggeration. It is manifested as a spreading epidemic in which the porcelain factories' traditional products are given a humorous twist, not just in Denmark, but also in the rest of Europe.
With Absentia I have chosen to let the clay, as a physical material, play a less significant part of the work. Instead, pictures referring to ceramics as well as sound convey the story. My vision is to challenge the way the audience perceive ceramics and the context in which it appears.
Moreover, Absentia is a personal fusion between the body and ceramics, and it has been a dream of mine to create a surreal fusion between the body and ceramics for several years. Though, it was difficult to figure out how to create this fusion, I feel that I have cut the Gordian knot with my work Absentia.
Dimensions: (H/W/D): 10 cm x 61 cm x 25 cm • Material: ceramics, latex
The video was made in collaboration with art director Sofie Fruergaard, cinematographer Sophie Winqvist, editor Julian Andersen, recordist Sille Boel, body painter Patrick Leis and Minerva Film A/S.
Framegrabs from the video can be found HERE.
Photographer: Andreas Omvik og Henrik Nielsen