An exhibition is always related to the artists former exhibitions. In my case, a more commission-based form of production has characterized my work, as is the case for too much art that is made today. You get invited to make your contribution to a specific context or to an overarching theme in a group exhibition, with deadlines, and where the experimentation towards the final work more or less takes place in reflection of this.
In recent years, I have had many artist in residence stays in different cities and enviroments. Here I have explored variations of slow and almost mechanical work techniques, where wood and especially paper, pen, pencil, stamps and ink, have been the central materials. Repetition of lines, characters and shapes in drawing and printing. Collection and cleaning of roots. Nailing in wood. At a time when technology is taking a large place in our societies, and also in art, these analogue media are based on old innovations.
During one of the most recent guest stays I had, at the Nordic Artist Center Dalsåsen in autumn of 2016, I was able, free of deadlines and purposes, to carry out a daily work routine in the studio, and spend time with the materials to see what happens. I start with a picture with a simple line on the paper and continue from there. The lines hit each other, collide with each other, form new directions and different shapes, holding each other together. Such experiments form the basis of Practical Excercises. During my work at Trykkeriet, I have transferred this way of working to screen printing by drawing directly on the screen printing film. In the line drawings, the lines partly take control. At Trykkeriet, the printing itself also takes control of the final result, and I find myself on uncertain grounds, also because I do not master the technique.
It is about exploring a production process with a minimum of elementary materials and techniques, where my manual work is anchored in a routine and in the here-and-now. It includes a calculated margin or error and a tolerance for premeditated and unforseen interventions affecting the product. Practical exercises are the title of my work process – which I exhibit at Trykkeriet.
– Kristin Tårnesvik
