Nine Letter Words (Rubik's cube revisited) 2007
Ambiguity of language seems to be at the heart of the Danish conceptual artist Kasper Sonne’s work. Familiar words and expressions, when placed in a new context (for example on building rooftops, on advertising billboards or as neon signs), become absurdist philosophical statements that leave us pondering possible new meanings. Sounding at one and the same time like clichéd lines from movies and unanswerable existential questions, Kasper Sonne’s statements have a powerful brevity and precision.
Despite our increasing acceptance of oxymorons, contradictions seem to be the choice of weapon for Kasper Sonne to make us stop and reflect. Often the work is the title, and the title is the work. Even if the words in themselves are seemingly easy to understand, his work can be about something as incomprehensible as eternity or the end of it, as in Forever until the end.
Appearing not to be content to work within the confines of galleries, Kasper Sonne has made good use of the many and diverse public sites that have been offered to him, be they advertising billboards, office walls or building rooftops (including the roof of the building he lives in). Artist, object designer and writer, albeit a writer of a new extreme style of Haiku, we love the sparse abstruseness of Kasper Sonne’s work. Take a look below to read more and see a selection of the artist’s work:
Kasper was born 1974 in Albertslund, Denmark but now lives and works in London and Copenhagen. He graduated from The Danish School of Design in 2000 and has since exhibited widely in both solo and group shows including: Moti Hasson Gallery and LaViolaBank Gallery, New York City 2008, 56° N, 10° E - Museo Nacional de San Carlos, Mexico City 2008, What can a desert island do? - Seventeen Gallery, London 2007, Spitting image - V1 Gallery, Copenhagen 2007, There is a U in Us - V1 Gallery, Copenhagen 2006, Danish art now - Krinzinger Projekte, Vienna 2006, The wish list - M+R Gallery, London 2006, DNA (Diesel-New-Art) - Galerie Edition Copenhagen 2005, Videoart from The North and Balticum - Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen 2004, Copenhagen Blow Up - Galleria Myymälä2, Helsinki 2004, A Celebration of Rebellion - V1 Gallery, Copenhagen 2004, Gallery Luhmann - Nils Stærk Contemporary Art, Copenhagen 2002
Mean 2007
Untitled sign No.2 2008
Four Letter Words 2006
Beginning/Middle/End No. 1-4 2006
History Is Optional (Fade To White) 2005-2008
History Is Optional (Black Box) No. 6 & No. 7 2003-2007
The Point Of Being Pointless 2006
And Yet The Possibility Of Anything 2007
Statement from the artist's website:
Self, help, suck, cock, love, pain, true, fear, life, mind, soul, lost, hate, evil, good, wild, cunt, hope – all words we meet in the Danish artist Kasper Sonne’s work ”Four letter words” and all words found in our everyday language. The words are stereotypes that on one hand have clear meanings, and obvious common connotations within our culture. Yet, on the other hand they come across as empty vessels open to individual definition in the sense that the meaning is defined by context of reception as much as the source of expression.
One of the main questions posed in Sonne’s work is whether culture dictates the construction of meaning or whether it can be negotiated. Sonne engages in an open discussion of the established and the alternative, and his artistic practice revolves around classic dichotomies such as “good/evil”, “love/hate”, “truth/lie” etc. He works with established notions of terms and symbols, which in his work take on a new, open or altered meaning. As in the work described above, most words provoke certain associations and thus values of positive or negative character. The title of the work is a common phrase used to categorize words and expressions as bad language, yet several of the displayed words are initially of a positive character, seen apart from the (possible) juxtapositions within the work. Hence, a doubt of the reference and meaning communicated and received arises as the spectator starts combining the words in his/her own mind. This is also the case in the work “The beginning is the end and the end is the beginning”, a slide projection that continuously shifts between the words “fear, your, control, your…” Depending on at what point the spectator address the work and his/her references, the statement can be read as “control your fear” or “fear your control”. The uncertainty and possible “misunderstanding” that occurs is the premise of the work that opens up for the spectator to actively insert oneself in the experience and reading of the work.
The notions of truth and trust play a central role in Sonne’s work but he keeps deconstructing any apparent order or clear syntax they may suggest, as well as our understanding of them. Hence, the notion of “doubt” seems to be the only indisputable statement in most of his exhibitions, as the works demand that the spectator reads meaning in to the works rather than decode a coherent truth. In the process, the spectator becomes aware of the means: his/her cultural background and upbringing; the way we were educated and the physical and psychological environment we live in. Our individual and collective references being questioned seem to be the imperative of the work of Kasper Sonne. Much of his work revolves around ideas of oppositionality and of the possibilities for articulating this within the context of art. With a view to the construction of meaning in our culture and society, Kasper Sonne explores how it is negotiated and how ways are found to work with different degrees of belonging and non-belonging. Rather than building a series of images, he circles his themes with various motifs, techniques and formats, and address this subject matter through diverse media such as photography, wall painting, neon, paper, textile, sculptures and installation work.
See a full catalogue of Kasper Sonne's work here.
This work owes a big debt to Bruce Nauman. I have seen the Nauman's in several US museums, and Nauman uses neon lighting to create signs/words, that are: short, playful, ambigious, and meant to provoke and they are in the exact same format as the circular neon work and the gridded four letter work above...
Posted by: Bill Donovan | 13/10/2008 at 08:42
Those are certainly good photos.
Posted by: charles | 02/10/2008 at 18:11