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FOS
/ˈpalɪm(p)sɛst/, June 2 - July 27, 2018

FOS: /ˈpalɪm(p)sɛst/

Past exhibition
  • Exhibition text
  • Installation views
  • Works

  • FOS
    /ˈpalɪm(p)sɛst/

    June 2 – July 27, 2018
    Glentevej 49, Copenhagen

    Upon entering /ˈpalɪm(p)sɛst/ members of the audience are handed a set of instructions inviting them to change into a custom-designed lightweight robe. Once in this new attire, the visitor is ready to be buried up to the neck in the bath of warm sand that, together with the clay floor and water fountain, composes the large sculptural work at the centre of the gallery. By asking the public to leave their own clothing behind, the artist symbolically marks the transition, as in a rite of passage, from the everyday world, to the ‘separate’ space of the exhibition. Throughout his artistic career, FOS has consistently worked on this idea of the exhibition space becoming ‘another’ space; pointing beyond its physical location and usual function. Similarly, he explores the relational aspect of that space, often creating works that require direct or symbolic engagement from the public. 

     

    When submerged in the sand, the heat and weight of the material distorts the perception of scale and the boundary of one’s own body - a sensation of melting into the sand as the shell of your skin seems to dissolve. Sand is largely composed of silica, the most common mineral found on Earth and the basic element in the fabrication of microchips, a tool that allows today’s accumulation and massive circulation of digital data. Whilst buried, the body is overcome by an enormous quantity of sensorial information; in this case not an intangible overload of data flow but a very physical one, experienced through a primordial material. Silica is also the main component of glass, clay, glaze and mirror, all used extensively in the exhibition. Through the experience of being buried in the sandpit, the artist seems to push members of the audience to lose themselves; to become his materials. To paraphrase a known line, what does it mean to take on the perspective of a grain of sand? 

    Read more
    This question connects to the use of the SAMPA phonetic alphabet in the titling throughout the exhibition in the titling throughout the exhibition. To the untrained eye, phonetically written words can be read as images whose meanings are unveiled only at the moment of vocalisation; the position of the spectator is once again pulled into the physical grain of the object. From the act of reading, to the uttering of the word, our grasp on meaning is slightly deferred and suddenly relocated within the word’s sound. This subtle shaking of our faith in language’s power to denote opens up a small, vertiginous space where sense is momentarily lost and quickly rearranged. 

    In the bi-dimensional works of the exhibition, images seem to suffer from their own vertigo: two painted mirrors are presented as a sort of double, pictures of glass tubes couple with their shadows, the uncanny print of a bird has three rhythmically repeating outlines. These vibrations of form, resonating with the deep recurring ring of a glass bell, present the exhibition as a creased unity, where materials and meaning seem to constantly ‘peel off’ from one other, shedding a skin in favour of an ever new one. This layering of traces and possibilities of meaning is, ultimately, a /ˈpalɪm(p)sɛst/. 
  • Installation views
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  • Works
    • FOS E”dZ (electrons begin) @”v plE”Z@r, 2018 UV print, aluminium plate, aluminium frame
      FOS
      E”dZ (electrons begin) @”v plE”Z@r, 2018
      UV print, aluminium plate, aluminium frame
    • FOS s@”m (double skin sodium), 2018 UV print on brassplate
      FOS
      s@”m (double skin sodium), 2018
      UV print on brassplate
    • FOS E”dZ (electrons begin) @”v plE”Z@r, 2018 UV print, aluminium plate, aluminium frame
      FOS
      E”dZ (electrons begin) @”v plE”Z@r, 2018
      UV print, aluminium plate, aluminium frame
    • FOS la”yk yE”s (and silica stats), 2018 acrylic plaster, aluminium, color
      FOS
      la”yk yE”s (and silica stats), 2018
      acrylic plaster, aluminium, color
    • FOS wIT (data trails) A”ks@dZ@n, 2018 acrylic plaster, aluminium, pigment
      FOS
      wIT (data trails) A”ks@dZ@n, 2018
      acrylic plaster, aluminium, pigment
    • FOS tu” TI”Nk D{“t s@”mwE%r In DI”s (Sand trails skin tones) wE”t, 2018 Acrylic plaster, aluminium, pigment
      FOS
      tu” TI”Nk D{“t s@”mwE%r In DI”s (Sand trails skin tones) wE”t, 2018
      Acrylic plaster, aluminium, pigment
    • FOS d{“ns@z (space intolerance) prayers, 2018 photogravure
      FOS
      d{“ns@z (space intolerance) prayers, 2018
      photogravure
    • FOS Q”l Q”lmo%st (glass palace mirror carrier) DE”r, 2018 glass, silver paint, aluminium
      FOS
      Q”l Q”lmo%st (glass palace mirror carrier) DE”r, 2018
      glass, silver paint, aluminium
    • FOS ridgeline (image carrier) @”v tr@”st, 2018 Glass, silverpaint, aluminium
      FOS
      ridgeline (image carrier) @”v tr@”st, 2018
      Glass, silverpaint, aluminium
    • FOS e”ntS@nt (distillation bottle bell) people’s tE”rz, 2018 glass, wood, metal, motor, timer
      FOS
      e”ntS@nt (distillation bottle bell) people’s tE”rz, 2018
      glass, wood, metal, motor, timer
    • FOS D@ swE”t lU”k (artificial boundaries) spE”lIN, 2018 Wood, iron, canvas, fabric
      FOS
      D@ swE”t lU”k (artificial boundaries) spE”lIN, 2018
      Wood, iron, canvas, fabric
    • FOS In Di”z pE”rz (ions in the cliffs) Di”z trI”pl@ts, 2018 Bronze in two parts on column
      FOS
      In Di”z pE”rz (ions in the cliffs) Di”z trI”pl@ts, 2018
      Bronze in two parts on column
    • FOS A”r @”D@r (hesitations) dZO%yz {“nd fI”rz, 2018 Concrete, wood, fabric
      FOS
      A”r @”D@r (hesitations) dZO%yz {“nd fI”rz, 2018
      Concrete, wood, fabric
    • FOS @”v ha”ydr@dZ@n (all palace) glI”s@nIN, 2018 Glass, wood, metal, LED, clay
      FOS
      @”v ha”ydr@dZ@n (all palace) glI”s@nIN, 2018
      Glass, wood, metal, LED, clay
    • FOS E”dZ @”v (inverse geometry) IgzQ”stS@n, 2018 Wood, LED, folie, aluminium
      FOS
      E”dZ @”v (inverse geometry) IgzQ”stS@n, 2018
      Wood, LED, folie, aluminium
    • FOS tu” TI”Nk D{“t (magnesium in my bones) ma”y swE”t k@nte”nz, 2018 Water dispenser
      FOS
      tu” TI”Nk D{“t (magnesium in my bones) ma”y swE”t k@nte”nz, 2018
      Water dispenser
    • FOS skI”dIN p{“st (Some shirts are hanging from the curtains) trysting, 2018 mdf, sand, aluminium, various objects, LED
      FOS
      skI”dIN p{“st (Some shirts are hanging from the curtains) trysting, 2018
      mdf, sand, aluminium, various objects, LED
    • FOS ayA”nIk (something separates) iconic, 2018 concrete floor
      FOS
      ayA”nIk (something separates) iconic, 2018
      concrete floor
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GLENTEVEJ 49
Copenhagen

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Saturday: 11 am — 3 pm

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COPENHAGEN

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