Good Morning Andrew

From Ex - Posed © ASBJØRN HOLLERUD

One of the great things about the post-MFA world is watching how far all of my colleagues have been able to travel in the last year. Printmaker, photographer, and friend David Stordahl has been living and working in Norway since January. Through him I have been introduced to the outstanding work of Asbjørn Hollerud. His portfolio site can be viewed HERE.

I am particularly interested in his MA work: EX – POSED. He describes the project:

For the exhibition at Bergen Kunsthall, I exhibited 108 colorful silkscreen printed stainless steel plates next to a small monitor displaying Japanese commercials from the 1980′s. The printed part of the installation started from a photograph I shot of a rusted wall on a trip to Japan. I got a micro macro experience at the moment I photographed the wall. Visually it was as if I was flying high above the ground and at the same time I was close up against the wall. The finished photograph was then turned into a very rough half tone pattern. A small pixelated half tone fragment was taken out of the image. This fragment went through a long journey back and forth between the analogue and digital processes. In the end the fragment was enlarged and printed in different color combinations.

A small monitor played a loop of romantic Japanese commercials with American pop icons. Michael Jackson is in a commercial for a scooter named “Love”. Andy Warhol says the primary colors in Japanese while holding a tv monitor and come to the conclusion that “it is beautiful”. Mike Tyson is in a “super strong” hybrid with Toyota trucks. Eddie Murphy is nuts about the new “sexy” Toyota sportscar. An Isuzu commercial shows cars dancing in rows as if it was a human ballet.

The remixing, blending, and collisions of personal identity and mass-mediated image keep pulling me back to his project. I think his work expresses the need to play, explore, and recreate from the images that, on some level, have created our own identity. On a more personal note, I have memories of my own childhood… and a very embarrassing video tape of me signing various commercials from the 1980s. Does anyone else remember the “Molly McButter” jingle?