This used to be my playground
Various sizes
This used to be my playground is a solo-exhibition at Cultural Center CK in Skopje as part of the Nordic Summer weekend: Cool as can be, August 2009.
The exhibition consists of a series of images, which documents the remaining twelve trees from a clear-cutting of a woodland area in the northern part of Jutland (DK). Besides the images, a landscape-scenery is established and a series of miniature homes made of matches are installed in the exhibition space and in the outside area of The Cultural Center CK. All homes are custom made and installed in the trees or in the corners of the exhibition space. Common to them all is, that they’re representing alternative but also temporary and vulnerable living.
Excerpts from the exhibition statement:
My starting point for the exhibition is a specific woodland-area in The Fosdalen Plantation in The Northern Jutland in Denmark. - An area of the woods that I used to go to a lot in my childhood, but because of a lot of clear-cuttings, it is not how it used to be anymore. Today, you will only find a few, old trees, that have been left behind. I found that very strange, but after a closer examination I realized that the trees, which are still standing, are housing insects, birds and much more from the woods. My first thought was, that it is very thoughtful of the foresters to do so, but on second thoughts, I also think of how I would feel if my neighborhood was going though such changes and all of a sudden was in ruins with only a few houses left. What will occur and how will I adapt to the situation? Will I be able to continue my daily life? From these viewpoints, I see some similarities in the surroundings of Cultural Center CK. From current problematics such as the clear cutting of the trees in the street of Cultural Center CK, which have causing an outcry and demonstrations in the neighborhood to bigger issues like the radical changes and turbulence the city of Skopje has been going through over the years; from epidemics, fires, earthquakes and not at least the bombings during the war, where a lot of people must have lost their homes.
My Tree, 2009, (wood, glue, fittings, wire and painting), Variable size.
Installation view: To the rightt: This used to be my playground, 2008, 2 x Digital c-prints, B&W, 25,4 x 38 cm.
Detail: This used to be my playground, 2008, Digital c-print, B&W, 25,4 x 38 cm.
Detail: Sixteen homes, 2009, Alternative homes in variable sizes for insects and birds made of matches and glue for the inside and outside area of Cultural Center CK.
Also here, a lot of trees have been cut down - and without the acceptance of the
residents in the area. Only a few trees are now still standing but in the danger zone of being cut down as the others. Homes were therefore built as a sanctuary with
reference to the trees in Denmark.
The forest, 2009, Wallpaper cutting, 508 x 366 cm.
Detail: The forest, 2009, Wallpaper cutting, 508 x 366 cm.
Installation view: Twelve trees, 2009, 12 x Digital c-prints, 38 x 25,4 cm.
Twelve trees (tree no. 1), 2009, Digital c-print, 38 x 25,4 cm.
Installation view: This used to be my playground, 2009, 2 x Digital c-prints, 70 x 100 cm.
This used to be my playground, 2009, Digital c-print, 70 x 100 cm.
Detail: Sixteen homes, 2009, Alternative homes in variable sizes for insects and birds made of matches and glue for the outside area of Cultural Center CK.
Detail: Sixteen homes, 2009, Alternative homes in variable sizes for insects and birds made of matches and glue for the outside area of Cultural Center CK.
Detail: Sixteen homes, 2009, Alternative homes in variable sizes for insects and birds made of matches and glue for the outside area of Cultural Center CK.
Detail: Sixteen homes, 2009, Alternative homes in variable sizes for insects and birds made of matches and glue for the outside area of Cultural Center CK.