Dear Readers,
Though break hasn’t officially begun, I only have one class next week. Thus, Nadia and I have already begun crossing things off our end of semester bucket list. Yesterday we just relaxed, went to Studenterhuset, and hung out at the LLC. Today, however, we ventured to Arken Museum for Modern Art. We dawdled through the morning and got a bit lost switching from train to bus, but we found our way eventually! Here are some of my favorite art works/exhibitions there:
The first room we walked into was filled technicolor polka-dots, vibrant butterflies, and a diamond skull. It all seemed so bright and playful. Yet, Damien Hurst’s work left me both inspired and unsettled. The neon blue formaldehyde, though fitting the color scheme, held the front halves of two dead cows. As the Arken website so finely puts it, “Hirst puts beauty and brutality, nature and art, life and death into focus.”
Misbah by Mona Hatoum was a beautiful, yet haunting use of a spinning lantern to show soldiers “dance” around the dark room. She took something childish and whimsical and added a more somber layer upon it. Though at first it seemed that the two elements were contrasting, it soon reminded me about all of the children for whom war is an everyday reality.
And the purpose of this trip, perhaps the most interesting exhibit I have ever seen: Patricia Piccinini’s A World of Love. The creatures Piccinini created had me often saying “ew” and “oh my gosh,” yet I couldn’t look away. As I worked my way through her exhibit and read more of the descriptions, I found myself saying and thinking these sentiments less and less. Her art made me think about how we as humans have treated our environment and the beings within it. Everything must be “useful” (or maybe “exploitable” is more accurate) to us for it to have worth. There was one specific creature that made me want to protect it in the same way I want to protect animals. Though it was disturbing, her work was also (do I dare say it?) beautiful. I didn’t expect to feel this way about it, but I truly appreciate the beings that she brought to life.
There were plenty of other artists’ works at Arken and I definitely recommend going to check them out. Keep an eye out for more posts about this week!
–Shelby