Seinajöki Kunsthall
Finland
Anne Katrine Senstad
Radical Light - ELEMENTS VI
By Andres Kurg
In Radical Light – Elements VI by Norwegian
artist Anne Katrine Senstad we encounter
abstract light sculptures accompanied by
ambient sound – a space filled with particles
of white light that produce a total environment,
encompassing all the senses. Upon entering,
the viewer is welcomed by The Sensory Chamber
an intimate video installation or “antechamber”,
where the hypnotic moving images are projected
onto a bed of white salt crystals moving through
hues of blues, red, pinks, whites and turquoise.
The Sensory Chamber IV, 2021.
Photos by AKS Studio NY and Samuli Kuusisto
In the grand space, the installation Elements VI
is defined by the unity of chromatic white neon
composed of twenty-nine vertical light columns
enveloped by a white horizon that stand amidst
the concrete columns of the former industrial
and military warehouse. Slender glass tubes
filled with neon and argon, illuminate the
space at color temperatures between 3500
to 8300 Kelvin degrees, ranging from warmer
satin and egg-shell whites to colder green and
icy blue hues, indicating simultaneously the
physical character of the color white and its
cosmology of cultural narratives.
Enveloping the public in a sound environment
created specifically for Radical Light by electronic
music composer JG Thirlwell, the abstract aural
experience embodies the spatial sensations of
electrical particles, luminosity and noble gases.
In composing a sensory environment of pure light,
Senstad is primarily examining the emotional and
semiotic connotations produced by white as a
color: bright white light as eternity, purity, perfection,
a symbol of death and rebirth; or naturally clean
white as something that departs from reality
and approaches the surreal – the white tiger,
the albino moose, the great white whale.
Elements VI, 2021. Photo by AKS Studio NY
On the other hand, Senstad’s installation produces a
separation between the light source as an information
channel and its cultural meanings, demonstrating how
various shades of white are nothing more
than sensations of electromagnetic wavelengths
that can be altered by changing the ratio of noble
gases harnessed within the glass tubes.
The physical properties of neon and argon facilitate
the transportation of electricity that produce luminal
spectrums with a discrete durational hum. Light is
always physically present in space, similar to its
transformative effects on surrounding objects or
enclosing walls. The use of light as material, its
scale and the purity of the white hues, refer to a
radicalization of space and color, striving towards
their zero-degree, making it possible to pose
questions on the character of the artwork and
challenge its place within the gallery.
The idea of a pure white color has enthralled 20th
century avant-garde artists like Kazimir Malevich
or Robert Rauschenberg. It signified for them an
endpoint of previous artistic developments and a
transgression beyond the canonic rules of the
artworld. But a white canvas was simultaneously a
mirror and a blank slate, receiving signals from its
environs and registering its temporary interventions.
From that point, there was only one step towards art
that undid the separation between the artwork and
its surrounding space. Senstad’s work is situated in
the tradition of installation art, where the surrounding
environment and the viewer become part of the
work itself. By moving between the light columns,
at different speeds, on different days or at different
times, observing the change in light and shadow, the
gallery space acquires an equal role with the
installation elements and sounds.
Elements VI bears a relationship to the geographic
location in Seinäjoki – with the silvery and white hues
of the northern hemisphere during the peak of the suns’
atmospheric presence – but it also makes a reference
to the built history of its location. Not far from the
Kunsthalle stands the civic and administrative centre
of Seinäjoki by Alvar Aalto, crowned by the
monumental Lakeuden Risti Church (1957-60).
Its white interior creates emotional effects for the
viewer through the sculpturality of its vertical tectonic
elements, gently curving vaults and the seamless
transformation between the ceiling and the apse.
ELEMENTS VI, 2021 - Radical Light.
Photo by AKS Studio NY
Representing Scandinavian modernism, the
spiritual is mediated there through reduced
geometries, volumetric spatial vision and perhaps
most importantly, the light from vertical windows
reflected off from the bright white interior walls.
Unlike the church, the Kunsthalle closes itself off
from the external light and transports the viewer
to a sensorially immersive space of an artificially
controlled light and sound environment, encapsulating
the human body in a system of matrices, electricity
and glass tubes.Senstad’s invitation to contemplation
and introspection is detached from any institutional or
instrumental function. The installation becomes a
counter-environment that transforms the visitors’
perception of space and time and provides potential
for a radical cultural experience.
The exhibition is produced by Kunsthalle Seinäjoki
in partnership with Kai Art Center, Tallinn, Estonia
and The Finnish Art Promotion Centre/TAIKE.
Supported by The Royal Norwegian Embassy Helsingfors.
Dear Friends,
in support of Carriage Trade Gallery in New York, I'm glad to participate in the yearly fundraiser "Social Photography" alongside some great artists, art writers and authors, as well as musicians from Sonic Youth and other friends of Carriage Trade.
Online Preview Begins: |
Now in its ninth year, Social Photography brings together cell phone pictures of participants from a wide range of disciplines, generations, and places. In the spirit of broad access to cell phone image making technology, the emphasis of the project leans toward sensibility and the anecdotal over skill and mastery of the medium of photography.
Taking advantage of technologies that allow for images to be sent from anywhere, which are then formatted, printed, and displayed in an in-person exhibition at carriage trade, the range of participants in Social Photography reflect both the gallery’s community in Lower Manhattan as well those associated with it in other parts of the world. Linking the virtual with the physical through an online display that is then presented in print form, Social Photography IX might be seen as a counterpoint to the increased placelessness of remote exchanges normalized in the pandemic-era.
Spanning nearly a decade, the growing, informal archive of Social Photography cell phone pictures occasionally reflect significant local, national, and international events (Occupy Wall Street, George Floyd protests, U.S. presidential elections, pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong) existing side by side with the everyday, the personal, the urban, and the domestic.
With a limited curatorial directive, trends are inevitable (a slight increase in pet photos this year is most likely a result of increased time spent indoors during the pandemic), while the elusive nature of where to “put” cell phone photography with respect to hierarchies of photographic image production (fine art photography, photojournalism, social media fodder) remains intact. What began in 2011 as an investigation of a novelty medium which simultaneously offered an alternative to the conventional non-profit benefit exhibition has become a kind of tradition, as it sustains and expands carriage trade’s community through its many participants, while helping support the gallery’s upcoming projects.
Social Photography IX Contributors:
Dennis Adams / Peggy Ahwesh / Lucas Ajemian / Graham Anderson / Michele Araujo / Michael Ashkin / Hallie Ayres / Mengfan Bai / Agnes Barley / James Barondess / David Baskin / William Beaudoin / Lisa Beck / Philip Bednarski / Peter Bellamy / Catherine Belloy / Amy Ben-Ezra Theodora Ben-Ezra / Liz Berg / Julien Bismuth / Joi Bittle / Lisa Blas / Ann Bobco / Richard Bosman / F.P. Boué / Norman Brosterman / Christine Burgin / Bibs Carlsen / Antoine Catala Alejandro Cesarco / Danny Chau / Myrel Chernick / Stella Cilman / Mary Clarke / Matt Connors Eli Coplan / Jeri Coppola / Fred Cray / Jody Culkin / Reilly Davidson / Mira Dayal / David Deutsch / Georgie Devereux / Daniella Dooling / Saskia Draxler / Paul Druecke / Anne-Claire Duprat / Peter Fend / Bernadette Fiscina / Elias Fokine / Andrea Frank / Susan Gamble & Michael Wenyon / Rainer Ganahl / Marc Ganzglass / Victor Esther Garcia / Hunter Gause / Jeff Gibson / Liam Gillick / Andrew Ginzel / Robert Goldman / Jasmine Golestaneh / Kathy Goncharov / Michelle Grabner / Ethan Greenbaum / Barbara Gundlach / Clair Gunther / Cynthia Hawkins-Owen / Anthony Hawley / Lorna Hayden / Duy Hoàng / James Hoff / Laura Hunt / Scott Indrisek / E. J. / Bryn Jayes / Neil Jenney / Lulu Jiang / Danielle Johnson / Werner Kaligofsky / Simone Kearney / Douglas S. Kehl / Mathias Kessler / Anjali Khosla / Anna Kleberg Tham / Essye Klempner / Hilary Kliros / Nicholas Knight / Udomsak Krisanamis / Nina Kuo Stephen Lack / Justen Ladda / Marc Lafia / Eugenia Lai / Erik LaPrade / Louise Lawler Elizabeth LeCompte / Mika Lee / Maggie Lee / Simon Leung / Max Levin / Matthew Li / Laura Li Wenxiao Li / Nora Ligorano / Lysjs Lim / Ming Lin / Jeanne Liotta / Hsiang Hsi Lu / Judith Luongo / Stephen Maine / Jiří Makovec / Sakura Maku / Adam Marnie / Vijay Masharani Esperanza Mayobre / Tom McGlynn / Jessica Mensch / Emilie Meyer / Molly Miller / Veronika Molnar / Sojung Moon / Andrew Moore / Lucy Mullican / Real Salvator Mundi / Muntadas Christian Nagel / Diane Nerwen / Chee Wang Ng / Isabella Norris / Almost Not / John Oakes Kristin Ordahl / Daylon Orr / Hannah Park / Laura Parnes / Stephan Pascher / Gelah Penn Andreas Petrossiants / Zoe Pettijohn Schade / Michael Poetschko / Jeff Preiss / R.H. Quaytman Lee Ranaldo / Xander Rapparport / Marshall Reese / Calvin Reid / Alejandro Ribadeneira Walter Robinson / Daniel Roche / Aura Rosenberg / Lorin Roser / Betty Roytburd / Ryan Rusiecki / Vicky Sambunaris / Valerie Saputra / Ken Saylor / John Schabel / Jeffrey Schiff / Heidi Schlatter / Kristina Schmidt / Nadine Schmied / Gary Schneider / Barry Schwabsky Michael Scott / Felicity Scott / Anne Katrine Senstad / Jacques Servin / Elaine Sexton / Trevor Shimizu / Zhi Shu / Amie Siegel / James Siena / Shelly Silver / Adam Simon Jason Simon / Day Sinclair / Leah Singer / Janice Sloane / Inna Smolina / Molly Soda / Claudia Sohrens / Andy Steinitz / Gary Stephan / Steel Stillman / Charles Stobbs III / Carol Szymanski / Sikay Tang Gwenn Thomas / Colin Thomson / Cassidy Toner / Momoyo Torimitsu / Dan Torop / Sophie Tottie / Kristal Uribe / Gail Vachon / Pegi Vail / Kate Valk / Ali Van / Lotte Van den Audenaeren Liselot van der Heijden / Virginia Inés Vergara / Doris Vila / Julia Wachtel / Chloe Walecki / Max Warsh / William Wegman / Barbara Weissberger / James Welling / Elvia Wilk / Tonero Williams Scott Williams / Nechama Winston / David Winter / B. Wurtz / C. Spencer Yeh / Sun You / H Spencer Young / John Yu / Michael Zansky / Jiajia Zhang
*Preview begins Wednesday, July 21 at 2PM / Online sales begin Friday, July 23 at 2PM
https://socialphotography.carriagetrade.org
1 print: $75.00
2 prints: $120.00 (use promo code: 2/$120 at checkout)
3 prints: $150.00 (use promo code: 3/$150 at checkout)
EMMY NEWS 2021
IMMERSIVE WORLDS - an Arts TV series created by Producing Partners and has run for 2 seasons on ALL ARTS TV - a WNET PBS network, has been nominated for an EMMY Award as part of 14 ALL ARTS TV EMMY nominations.
In Season 1 Episode 8 - IMMERSIVE LIGHT, my work was presented alongside James Turell, Dan Flavin, and Anthony McCall - a 40 minute episode journeying through experiential and perceptual art, as artists working sculpting light and working with light as matter.
Click HERE see the episode on ALL ARTS TV streaming.
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