Transfer of Ta mi hand [Take My Hand], by Per Kleiva (1983), on frame matt. Courtesy: Stig Gjerstadli. Photo: Torstein Olav Eriksen/Kunsthall Trondheim
What is the lifespan of an artwork, and what traces do artworks leave behind? This question finds an answer in Acid Prints, a striking collection of "ghost images" discovered in Trondheim, Norway. Artists didn't create these spectral impressions; they formed naturally when framed artists’ prints slowly transferred onto their backing materials after years of hanging in local homes.
Stig Gjerstadli started collecting these mysterious transfers after noticing them at his place of work, the Trondheim frame shop RAMM. Like photographic negatives, these "ghosts" appeared as inverted versions of their source artists’ prints and provide a time capsule, recording decades of environmental conditions through their unique chemical imprints. In this way, these unplanned transfers have become artifacts in their own right, born from a conversation between art and its host environment over time.
What makes this accidental archive extraordinary is its dual narrative: It preserves a trace of the original artists' intended work and an unintended record of these prints' lives in Norwegian homes. This collection of transfers creates a new kind of "mother print"—an organic matrix that documents the original artistic vision and the material history of its preservation. Through these images, we glimpse the fascinating intersection of deliberate artistic creation and the subtle forces of time, chemistry, and environment at work in private spaces.
A short documentary accompanies the exhibition, adding personal stories behind these artworks and their ghost images. In this film, Stig Gjerstadli and RAMM owner Ingrid Oliv Olava Sørgjerd reflect on Trondheim's art-collecting history, as seen through the lens of the city's leading framing shop. The documentary also features interviews with some of the collectors who own the original artworks that created these ghost images, sharing what these pieces have meant to them over time.
As part of this exhibition, Kunsthall Trondheim presents a collaborative "Acid Print," made by the institution's visitors and arranged by local artist Dag Olav Kolltveit. This artwork is a controlled experiment, which does not represent standard museum preservation practices today. It will remain on display in Kunsthall Trondheim for several years, gradually forming its ghost image—becoming a unique time capsule of our museum and its visitors.
Ghost images include impressions transferred from original artworks (possibly) by: Håkon Bleken, Odd Harrong, Ramon Isern, Per Kleiva, Ilse Claesson Rumpke, and Axel Salto.
Curated by Adam Kleinman and Joe Rowley.
Acid Prints is one of three rotating mini-exhibitions complementing Liv Bugge's solo show Umbilical Fire. All four exhibitions are created by and presented at Kunsthall Trondheim in the context of the Hannah Ryggen Triennale 2025. The 2025 edition of the Triennale collectively explores the theme of "mater" (Latin for mother and root of words like "matter" and "material") across Trondheim art institutions, connecting concepts of motherhood and custody to the production of cultural heritage and materiality itself. Initiated by Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum, the collaborative Triennale program includes dedicated presentations at Dropsfabrikken, Kjøpmannsgata Ung Kunst (K-U-K), Trondheim kunstmuseum, Trøndelag senter for samtidskunst, and Ørland/Bjugn Kunstforening as well as at Kunsthall Trondheim.