CC Audio

This film installation is a statement of presence, revealing the working processes of 29 people across seven days – placing the audience at the centre of the Project Art Works’ studio in Hastings, UK. The studio offers a freeing, non-hierarchical environment in which wordless languages are amplified. Interactions with and through materials reveal the essence of each person. The brush of ink across paper, a screech of peeling tape, the words ‘I love you’ – any of these might be a way to say ‘I am here’. This self-revelation, the responsiveness to it and the vulnerability to sit in a place of ‘not knowing’ are the foundations of the work, building trust between artists/makers, facilitators, support workers, advocates, and families, in the studio and beyond. The work depends on enabling people to make choices, creating an environment in which those choices can be realised. The value and impact of being seen on one’s own terms, in and out of the studio, drives change in life and in the systems that support us. The work towards understanding, visibility, representation is fundamental.

Hvad er frihed for dig? Møder du barrierer i din hverdag?Er du afhængig af andre for at gøre det, du gerne vil? Med værket Cosmology of Care visualiserer Project Art Works-kunstneren Kate Adams de muligheder og barrierer, som det offentlige system kan indeholde. Systemet er komplekst og kræver kendskab og vedholdenhed at være i. Kunstnerne fra kunstnerkollektivet Projects Art Works er mennesker med neurodivergens, og flere navigerer derfor dagligt i systemet, enten alene eller med støtte fra andre.  Samlet set giver hver cirkel et indblik i, hvilke systemer og strukturer, der kan tilgås (eller ej) for at opnå den støtte, der skal til for at leve et frit liv. Den inderste cirkel repræsenterer individet og det nærmeste netværk. Derefter følger strukturer og institutioner, som kan påvirke den enkelte. Den yderste cirkel repræsenterer liv og frihed, hvad vi bruger vores tid på, hvem vi er sammen med samt andre aspekter af livet som mennesker, der ikke har brug for støtte, måske tager for givet.  I udstillingen vises Cosmology of Care både i en dansk og i en engelsk kontekst. De repræsenterer det offentlige systems støtte til mennesker med funktionsnedsættelser og neurodivergens samt deres familie og netværk.

What does freedom mean to you?Do you face barriers in your everyday life?Are you dependent on others to do the things you want to do in life?  In Cosmology of Care, Project Art Works artist Kate Adams visualises the possibilities and barriers of the social care systems that many individuals and families rely on.  The systems are complex, and navigating them requires knowledge, advocacy and persistence. Project Art Works artists are people who are neurodivergent and many have to navigate the system on a daily basis, either on their own or with others to support them.  The circles and layers of the cosmology provide insight into potential structures and systems that can be accessed (or not) to obtain the right care and freedom of choice in life. At the centre is the individual, alongside their family or caregiver. Around them are various structures and institutions that affect the individual. The outer circle represents life, freedom and many aspects of life that people who do not need support may take for granted.  In the exhibition, Cosmology of Care represents both the Danish and the British support systems for disabled and neurodivergent communities and their families.

Velkommen til Residential – en udstilling skabt i samarbejde med det britiske kunstnerkollektiv Project Art Works. Her kan du udforske et væld af farver, teksturer, mønstre og motiver i en salonophængning af malerier samt selv være med til at skabe kunst. Udstillingen udforsker kunstens potentiale for at udtrykke sig, og den skaber nye rum for fællesskaber. Her kan alle uanset sprog, krop og evner udforske materialer og processer, skabe forbindelser med andre og dokumentere at have været her gennem kunsten. Project Art Works er et kollektiv af neurodiverse kunstnere, der gennem arbejdet med kunst, aktivisme og social omsorg undersøger kunstnerisk udtryk og repræsentation som en menneskeret. De har gennem de sidste 25 år opbygget en samling på over 6000 værker skabt af neurodivergente kunstnere med forskellige typer af komplekse støttebehov. Værkerne er et stærkt visuelt vidnesbyrd om mennesker, der ofte er skjulte og marginaliseret i samfundet. Residential afspejler Project Art Works’ kollaborative metode med værkstedet for samskabelse. Her kan CCs gæster prøve flere af kunstnerkollektivets metoder på egen krop. De værker, som samskabes i udstillingen i løbet af hele perioden, vil blive hængt op og dokumenterer gæsternes deltagelse.  Kollektivets arbejde trækker tråde tilbage til banebrydende kunstnere som tyske Joseph Beuys og danske Poul Gernes, der satte fokus på kunstens og kunstinstitutionens sociale potentiale og ansvar for at omdanne de strukturer, der former vores liv. Samarbejdet med Project Art Works er særegent i en dansk sammenhæng. Det vil på sigt forme CCs praksis og arbejde med at øge repræsentationen i kunstverdenen såvel som i samfundet og dermed styrke CCs position som en levende institution, hvor alle mennesker kan tage del i kunstoplevelsen.    Kunstneriske workshopsMed udgangspunkt i kollektivets metoder vil CC starte lignende initiativer i samarbejde med Project Art Works, hvor neurodiverse grupper inviteres til at deltage i kreative udforskninger af kunstinstitutionens potentiale. Det er i løbet af udstillingsperioden også muligt at deltage i åbne workshops, der giver indsigt i Project Art Works’ metoder. Du kan få yderligere oplysninger hos udstillingsværterne.   Om Project Art WorksProject Art Works er et kollektiv af neurodiverse kunstnere og aktivister fra Hastings i England. Med over 6000 kunstværker rummer Project Art Works’ arkiv organisationens historie samt en omfattende samling af samtidskunst til udlån. Samlingen spænder over malerier, grafik og tegninger i en bred vifte af billedkunstneriske udtryk fra det figurative til detabstrakte. Project Art Works deltog ved documenta 15 i Kassel i sommeren 2022 og har i de seneste år samarbejdet med mange forskellige kunst-institutioner i Europa, bl.a. Tate Liverpool og Museo Reina Sofia. Residential er tidligere blevet vist på Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art i Gateshead, UK.

Welcome to Residential, an exhibition and a making space created in collaboration with the British artist collective Project Art Works. Explore the whirl of colours, textures, patterns and motifs in paintings hung salon style and also take part in artistic co-creation in the open making space. Exploring art’s potential for self-expression, Residential builds new spaces for communities. Here, everyone – regardless of language, body and ability – can explore creativity, materials and processes, and their connection to others, leaving evidence of their presence through art. Project Art Works is a collective of neurodiverse artists working in the intersection of art, activism and social care, exploring the human rights of artistic expression and representation. Over the past 25 years, they have built a collection of more than 6000 works created by neurodivergent artists. Their works are a powerful physical and visual testament of people who are too often marginalized. Residential reflects Project Art Works’ collaborative approach by offering an open art-making space where visitors can try out the collective’s methods firsthand. Works created during the exhibition will be hung, documenting visitors’ participation. The collective’s work links to pioneers like the German artist Joseph Beuys and the Danish artist Poul Gernes, who focused on the social potential and responsibility of art and art institutions to transform the structures that shape our lives. The project is unique in a Danish context and will shape CC’s practice and work going forward to increase representation in the art world and in society at large, bolstering CC’s position as a vibrant institution where everyone can share in the art experience.   Art workshopsBased on the method developed by Project Art Works, CC will undertake similar initiatives in collaboration with them, inviting neurodivergent groups to participate in creative explorations of the potential of the art institution. During the exhibition, you can participate in open art workshops that provide insight into Project Art Works’ methods. Ask an exhibition host for more information.   About Project Art WorksProject Art Works is a collective of neurodiverse artists and activists from Hastings, England. With over 6000 artworks, the Project Art Works archive represents the organisation’s history and an expansive collection of contemporary art available for loan. The collection includes paintings, prints and drawings encompassing a wide range of approaches to image-making from figuration to abstraction. Project Art Works participated in the latest documenta fifteen in Kassel, in summer 2022. In recent years, they have collaborated with many different art institutions in Europe, including Tate Liverpool and Museo Reina Sofia. Residential was previously exhibited at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, UK.

Træd ind i en verden af lys, farver og monumentale installationer i Light & Space, når CC for første gang i Europa samler en lang række af den internationale kunstscenes absolutte verdensstjerner i en 5.000 m2 stor udstilling om den amerikanske Light and Space bevægelse. I dette afsnit kan du høre CCs direktør Marie Nipper fortælle om Light and Space bevægelsens historie, og dens betydning for den kunst, der bliver skabt i dag.

In this episode of CC Audio you meet the renowned artist, Carsten Höller, in conversation with former director of Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Daniel Birnbaum. The two have known each other for decades and have worked together on several exhibitions and book projects. The conversation is based on Carsten Höller’s exhibition Reproduction at CC and unfolds themes such as the exhibition as an experiment, the artwork being ‘unsaturated’, and notions of reproduction in a broader context. The German-Belgian artist is renowned for incorporating elements from playgrounds, zoos and amusement parks into his work, often juxtaposing them with scientific investigations and experiments. Carsten Höller has a PhD in biology, and his scientific background is crucial to his artistic practice where his main concerns are the experiment, the body, natural science and human behaviour. His large-scale installations engage and affect us, at times they even experiment with us – in merry-go-rounds, roller coasters, salt baths, strobe light, scents etc. In the exhibition Reproduction at CC, Höller examines the theme of ’reproduction’, adopting an approach which is at once scientific and artistic. Created and produced by Copenhagen Contemporary in collaboration with Astrid Hald.

In this episode of CC Audio you meet the acclaimed art historian and founder of Performa RoseLee Goldberg, as she shares her thoughts on the history of performance art, its role in art institutions today, and her definition of success. Performa was founded as an organisation in 2004 by RoseLee Goldberg whose time-honoured research into performance art has proved epoch-making for the genre. As the leading organisation dedicated to research into performance art, Performa addresses the role of this art form in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. At the heart of Performa is the biennial of the same name that presents new works commissioned specifically for the biennial involving dance, film, music, and architecture. The exhibition Performa Archive at Copenhagen Contemporary offers a rare glimpse into the legendary works created for and performed at the performance biennial in New York, and marks Performa’s indisputable significance for the development and propagation of performance art within the past two decades.Created and produced by Copenhagen Contemporary in collaboration with Astrid Hald.

Marianna Simnett presents her work The Needle and the Larynx, an extraordinary tale about a girl, played by Simnett herself, wanting her voice deepened. A voice surgeon injects Botox into the girl’s larynx, paralysing the muscles controlling the pitch and causing her voice to be deepened for several months. Listen to her sharing her thoughts on exposing her own body to a radical procedure, on the voice as an identity-building force capable of being mutated, and on her fondness of dark fabled universes. Created and produced by Copenhagen Contemporary in collaboration with Astrid Hald.

Marianna Simnett presents her work Faint with Light. How she first used fainting in her art, about the monstrous sound that took her completely by surprise, and her examination of fainting as a phenomenon: a personal association to her grandfather, who, during the Holocaust, avoided death by fainting at just the right moment, and traditional culture-historical views of fainting as a sign of the notorious female complaint of hysteria. Created and produced by Copenhagen Contemporary in collaboration with Astrid Hald.