How do the intertwined chains of material supply and human intimacy shape our everyday experiences?
Such inquiry informs Céline Mathieu's first Scandinavian institutional exhibition, which stems from her research project, CONDITIONS FOR RAW MATERIALS (2020-), an ongoing investigation into the circulation of thoughts and materials in exhibitions.
In LÅN (EN: loan), the artist navigates the conflation of material flows, value creation, hidden labor, and emotional attachment, employing a "soft" institutional critique laced with personal narrative. During a site-visit, the artist collected observations of formal and informal economies in Trondheim. Ingots of Norwegian primary aluminum, a gargoyle, a pressed record of a local choir, and borrowed ephemera now stand in as material proxies. What at first glance seem like scattered objects are revealed to be an interdependent and site-specific network.
While each object has an origin, their stories evolve into multiple narratives and afterlives over time and context. Loans, by their nature, reflect the trust and economy inherent in personal relationships, mirroring the exhibition's exploration of emotional exchange. People, thoughts, and materials all simultaneously feed into and draw from one another; as such, Céline Mathieu's approach to artistic production is intimately and intentionally woven with these exchanges.
Lives depend on those we share them with, and the material and emotional relational networks we build. These intimate networks are as susceptible to collapse as any system, yet represent human sustenance in its most elemental forms. They fail and flourish often in the most unexpected ways.
To this end, the artist has written you a letter to help further unpack the works and their relationships. You can find this at the reception desk, along with a small birch-wood block; a comfort object, yours to keep.
Special thanks goes to Wenche Eldegard, Nicolay Schweigaard, Rasmus Thor Christensen, Felicia Gullstrand, Mickis Gullstrand, Aksel Øien, Marc Pricop, Terje Aursøy, Cas van Son, Trondheim RAMM, Fotoimport, Nicolai Johansen, Ula Jern, Norsk Hydro, Gauli Zitter, Emilija Kiselova and Anna Lorbeer.