ART CITIES:Milan-Torbjørn Rødland

Torbjørn Rødland constructs portraits, still-lifes and landscapes, which simultaneously inhabit and defamiliarise the realm of the everyday. Embedded with multiple symbols and meanings, his staged scenarios “keep you in the process of looking”, revealing layers of discomfort and pleasure. With a highly constructed and at times fetishistic approach to subjects, objects and materials, Rødland makes photographs that are formally acute, conceptually playful and psychologically evocative.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Fondazione Prada Archive

Torbjørn Rødland in his solo exhibition “The Touch That Made You” at Fondazione Preda in Milan, presents a selection of over 40 photographs and 3 videos realized between 1999 and 2016. As the artist says, the title “The Touch That Made You” is connected with analogical processes: “the touch of the camera, the touch of the light hitting the film, the touch of the liquids running over the film during processing. I’m linking that to the stickiness and intimacy of certain motifs – these encounters between two individuals or between objects and bodies. Rødland’s photographs are exhibited on wooden structures characterized by monochromatic, flat surfaces on the inside, and rough, unfinished surfaces on the outside. The small projection room features three videos shot over the course of the past decade: “The Exorcism of Mother Teresa” (2004), “Heart All This & Dogg” (2004) and “I Am Linkola” (2007). For the two films from 2004 the artist says “I wrote a script for my first film, “The Exorcism of Mother Teresa”, but discovered that I had absolutely no interest in doing an image just to take me from B to C in a planned sequence. With the second film, “Heart All This & Dogg”, I put complete trust in my ability to make more improvised material come together in a meaningful way. The first film gave me that self-confidence”. The film “I Am Linkola” (2017 titillates our subconscious with the juxtaposition of a big black Mercedes and a blond schoolgirl in a Baby One More Time costume fondling a deck of playing cards, the tartan pattern of which matches her skirt. The scene is haunting, yes, as an electronic beat builds up to the car’s incessant circulation. Still, it feels like an erotic sheen without a substance, a psyche without a subject, or desire without an object; literally a vehicle going round in circles. In Rødland’s images, precision and critical rigour co-exist with an erotic, improvisational intensity that evades the reach of language. This standoff between intellectual and intuitive modes of perception places the unpredictable physicality of the world at the center of his work. The artist’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. At first glance, Rødland’s work often inhabits the aesthetic space of commercial photography. Recurring tropes within his images include produce, such as oranges, bananas, cakes or octopus tentacles, and close-ups of body parts and related accessories. Knees, feet and torsos partner with pads, socks and tattoos, while viscous substances, such as honey and paint, coat, ooze and drip over bodies. Often held in delicate tension and balance, Rødland’s images depict ambiguous, often surreal, interactions between humans and materials that evidence our intertwinement with our surroundings.

Info: Curators: Hans Ulrich Obrist and Amira Gad, Fondazione Prada, Milan Osservatorio, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan, Duration: 5/4-20/8/18, Days & Hours: Mon-Fri 14:00-20:00, Sat-Sun 10:00-20:00, www.fondazioneprada.org