As people of today’s world we seem to seek more and more ways of accessing information, feeding on news and engage with social media constantly. This behaviour could be described as quite desperate and stressful, like an addiction. We can not get it out of our head or shut the damn thing down! This craziness is certainly applicable to many of us urban nerv wrecks.
This is my first column for Artworks. I am a typical art geek with an education in sociology and art history and these are my thoughts and observations living and working in Stockholm, a city that I sometimes refer to as The City of Nerve Wrecks. In the midst of this hectic life we also search for moments, experiences and places where we can loose ourselves and find peace and quiet. Why not enjoy some art? Art helps you create a frame to focus and to be in the now. Art sharpens all your senses at it’s best.
As a seeker of such a cultural sanctuary I went to see the new Tony Oursler show at the contemporary art centre Magasin III in Stockholm. The visual concepts this artist puts on display are suggestive and create hypnotic effects by the eerie use of mixed media. This is video art at its most surreal state where Oursler use plastic cubes, wood and steel panels and disfigured dolls as projection screens for his talking heads. Creepy sound scapes helpes you to loose your orientation in time and space. It was like paranormal therapy. I gave in and my life was put on hold for a moment and I became part of the art. I actually stood in front of one of these talking heads just following the real time movements of it’s eyes. It was like watching your own eyes in the mirror or your lover’s. Facial recognition on many levels.
I am very susceptible to the combination of sound, video and abstraction built on contrasting colour schemes. These sensations and expressions can be easily accessed through art.
We should all more frequently pause for the cause of art.