ART CITIES:Berlin-Torbjørn-Rødland
Torbjørn Rødland’s approach to image-making, using analogue photography in staged set-ups, draws attention to their constructed nature, while leaving open the potential for unexpected outcomes. That these images hold the viewer’s gaze is not only the result of a pleasure in the act of looking, but also the indirect, uncertain nature of their messages.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: C/O Berlin Foundation Archive
“Back in Touch” Torbjørn Rødland’s first solo exhibition is on presentation at C/O Berlin. Any attempt to decode his images throws up new questions for the viewer. His work frequently unites disparate visual worlds in which increasingly mysterious and sometimes disturbing details emerge. At the same time, Rødland’s photographs arrest our gaze and captivate us thanks to their intelligence, peculiar lighting, their sterile modern setting, evoking commercial photography and pop culture, as well as their intuitive, erotic innuendos. In “Cinnamon Roll” (2015), a picked-apart cinnamon roll lies on a sheet of baking parchment, surrounded by pastry crumbs, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds. Teeth from a set of dentures protrude from inside the pastry between the cinnamon and sugar layers. In “The Cut” (2016), a close-up of a back, the half-covered buttocks of a young girl. She wears colorful polka-dot pajamas, with the bottom pulled down slightly to reveal a faded thong. A woman’s hand holds the thong from the right, on the left the hands of an elderly person poised to snip the girl’s thong with a pair of scissors. Rødland’s photographs often feature pairs of human subjects that are ostensibly contrasting or conflicting in their appearance and age. At the time of making “Stockings, Jeans and Carpeted Stairs” (2013–17), the artist’s age fell halfway between that of the two models depicted in the photograph. Out of this violent confrontation arises a universal question: how does the strong, confident, younger self prepare for or treat the future aged self? When choosing his subjects, Rødland often anticipates the potential reactions, associations and desires of his viewer. By appropriating certain fetishes, fears and paranoias, simple yet striking works such as “Trichotillomania” (2010-11), create juxtapositions that are exploratory and rich. The title of the work refers to a condition where a person feels compelled to pull their hair out. It is precisely this mixture that gives them their strength. They reach deep into our psyche, conjuring up fears, urges, fetishes, fantasies, and longings. His images create an utterly unique atmosphere that straddles the familiar and the archetypical.
Info: Curator: Ann-Christin, C/O Berlin Foundation, Amerika Haus, Hardenbergstraße 22-24, Berlin, Duration: 9/12/17-11/3/18, Days & Hours: Daily 11:00-20:00, www.co-berlin.org
