ART CITIES: Copenhagen Contemporary
Copenhagen Contemporary (CC) is an independent institution, established in 2015 with a view to creating a new, international exhibition venue in Copenhagen. After a renovation period CC is now opening part of the exhibition spaces. to kickstart the major project CC has rented 3,400 m2 halls on Paper Island, there, for 18 months, CC will implement changing exhibitions by internationally recognized artists. The vision for the pilot project is that CC can afterwards be established in a more permanent place in Copenhagen.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Copenhagen Contemporary Archive
After a renovation period CC is now opening part of the exhibition space with a warm-up opening of the German artist and musician Carsten Nicolai’s Light and Audio Installation “unidisplay”, the work is a powerful experience both visually and physically. The work consists of a long wall on which changing light patterns are projected and are reflected in mirrors on both sides of the projection to make up an endless universe. The undulating patterns affect our eyes with among other things optical illusions, flickering and after-images. At the same time the various visual impressions are grounded by a soundtrack that is propagated through the body via speakers placed beneath a long bench on which you can sit in the installation. “unidisplay” is about the way we sense the surrounding world, and how our surroundings in turn affect us. Yoko Ono’s Installation “Wish Tree Garden” has been created specifically for Copenhagen Contemporary and is a permanent part of CC’s harbour area in front of the exhibition halls. In the ‘80s Yoko Ono has been working on the piece “Wish Tree”. The work consists of one or more trees planted in places all around the world, with each tree species adapted, on Yoko Ono’s instructions, to the place and its climate. On a slip of paper anyone can write a wish which is afterwards hung from the branches of the trees. All the wishes are regularly collected and sent to Ono’s Imagine Peace Tower in Kollafjörður Bay, Iceland. The wishes from CC are buried around the Peace Tower along with the millions of other wishes that have been collected since 1996 from other places in the world. Magnus Pettersen and Lea Hein since 2015 collaborate to create works in the cross-field between art and design. Often they experiment with raw industrial materials like concrete and steel shaped into simple geometrical forms. The grey concrete is given new life by Pettersen & Hein’s special dyeing techniques where pigments in pink, turquoise and dark blue transform the dead material in the casting process. Especially for CC they created 13 coloured concrete benches for the harbour area in front of the exhibition halls on Papirøen. For a year and a half the benches will add colour to the raw industrial area and invite people to spend time and be together on the quayside.
Info: Copenhagen Contemporary, Trangravsvej 10-14, Copenhagen, Duration: Carsten Nicolai, unidisplay: 1/7-3/10/16, Yoko Ono, Wish Tree Garden: 1/7/16-31/12/17 and Pettersen & Hein, A View from the Present 1-13: 1/7/16-31/12/17, Days &Hours: Tue-Sat 11:00-21:00, http://cphco.org
