After a two-year break owing to the pandemic, the graduating students from MFA in Fine Art are back at Göteborgs Konsthall. In the graduation show Material Glitch eight students take the temperature of a society to which we are now trying to return, searching for a normality that has been so far out of reach.
The exhibition Material Glitch raises a thought, as the title suggests, that something is wrong with the very structure of existence; that a hidden problem affects the fabric of society. A ‘glitch’ is a problem that usually occurs in electronic systems, when defective software produces incorrect signals. Characteristically, everything seems normal, until suddenly, a bug appears, even just for a fraction of a second, and then disappears again. A glitch is therefore usually difficult to detect, and the underlying system error will remain until it’s fixed.
In the exhibition, the works on display can be seen as diagnoses of the contemporary moment. The students’ artistic explorations have been developed as individual experiments, but have also been influenced by their joint conversations. This is a group that has worked together under extraordinary circumstances. In their exhibition, they examine the difficult relationship between our bodies, desires and perceptions, and the systems and processes that shape our lives, and continue to disappoint us: on the one hand the perpetual unravelling of history, and on the other, a future defined by the expanding domain of technology.
What consciousness emerges in this uncertain world, where system failures become the new normal? How do we need to equip ourselves for this state of instability? Bringing the blind spot into vision means asking questions about how we create meaning for ourselves. How can we construct meaningfulness without sacrificing ethical principles? Can a reconsideration of our ‘material glitches’ help us reconsider the complex ways in which we try to make life worth living, not only for ourselves, but also for future generations?
Participating students
Elin Maria Alvemark "Unknowing Orchestrations"
Ali Ardalan "How beautiful, trying to blur the border. The border between the possible and the impossible…"
Amanda Hellryd "Forever can spare a minute"
Maja Lindberg Schwaner "Another Kind of Life"
Kamilla Mez "Nya Konst"
Viktor Moen "Korv Förenar Oss"
Jennifer Spångerud "Another Digital User Cluster"
Anders Walfridson "La Desdichada"
Official opening
Saturday April 9, 13.00 - 17.00
Opening hours
See Göteborgs Konsthalls website
Guided tours (in Swedish)
- 16 April, 13.00-13.30: Guided tour in Swedish
- 25 April, 14.00-14.15: Live at Instagram @goteborgskonsthall.
- 30 April, 13-13.30: Guided tour in Swedish
Open programme at Göteborgs Konsthall
For information on the open programme at Göteborgs Konsthall in connection to the graduation show, go to the Swedish version of this page.
Follow the students at Instagram
April 4–10 you can follow the students during their preparations of the exhibition and the opening at Instagram @hdk_valand.
