SEJA MARGINAL, SEJA HEROI (Be Marginal, Be a Hero)
19. JAN - 11. FEB 2007,
Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge, U.K
Panoramic Paper, Town and Gown, 3-D wall tableau
Panoramic Paper came out of a discovery trip to Cambridge during a comission for Wysing Arts Centre. Danger Museum digested the city through its cumulated knowledge of past, present, local and distant cultures. The city was explored through some of its most iconic collections, such as the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and Kettles Yard, and samples were taken to be integrated in an updated version of a panoramic painting of the 19th century. Such panoramic paintings - often designs for elaborate wallpapers present themselves nowadays as quite fantastical.
Visualising a mental construction rather than an actual place, the panoramic painting was used as a veichle by Danger Museum to portray the identity of a city once close to the British empire. A panoramic landscape was painted on to one gallery wall, where over the period of a month, items from both the collections and daily life was constructed together as photographic, sculptures and textile props.
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Original Press Release
Danger Museum: Panoramic Paper
January 19 -February 11, 2007
Wysing Arts Cambridge 315-349 Mill Road, Cambridge CB1 3DF
For Part 1 of the series of exhibitions Seja Marginal, Seja Herói* (Be Marginal, Be a Hero), Danger Museum presents the new commissioned work " Panoramic Paper" based on a discovery trip to Cambridge through the particular eyes of the artists. Although previous similar project "An Clar Glas" realised during a residency in Aberdeen focused its attention on the local residents and history, this time DM take a more detached approach and digest the city through its cumulated knowledge of past, present, local and distant cultures. The city is explored through some of its most iconic collections and samples are taken to then be integrated in an updated version of a panoramic painting of the 19th century. Such panoramic paintings, understood at the time as a comprehensive survey of a place or subject, present themselves nowadays as problematic and rather than depicting an actual place, they can be seen as a mental construction oblivious to reality. DM takes advantage of such problematic nature having the mural painting to act as an umbrella that allows the juxtaposition of incongruous elements, as a space for the Danger Museum to take place.
The show presents a fragmented history of recent collaborative projects and a show within the show in the form of a selection of videos-on-demand made by Axel Antas, Alex Villar, Bob & Roberta Smith, Emil Goh, Heman Chong and Isabelle Cornaro, Issei Yoshida, Jessica Voorsanger, Kenneth A. Balfelt, Maryam Jafri, Peter Callesen, Unn Fahlstrom and Valerie Tevere, all collaborators in previous appearances of the Danger Museum. Peanut Sofa was part of the institutional critique project "Peanut Circuit" and was made by Maria Bohlin. The " Graduation Portraits" were made as part of a workshop with students from the Oslo Arts and Crafts College. "Ostalgie" was produced in collaboration with Tokuko Shimizu.
There is also a selection hand-made fabric posters made to advertise earlier shows, a browsing table with publications DM has produced or taken part in, and the classic souvenir-shop as a last resource to cash on the cultural value of the displays.
The Danger Museum are Oyvind Renberg (Norway) and Miho Shimizu (Japan).Seja Marginal, Seja Herói* (Be Marginal, Be a Hero) Parts 1-5.
Following shows are: i-cabin from London (22 February - 18 March), La Culpable from Lima, Peru (22 March - 15 April), Platoniq from Barcelona, Spain (19 April - 13 May) and Mess Hall from Chicago, US (17 May - 10 June 10).
www.wysingartscentre.org
* title from a work by Helio Oiticica. Wysing Arts Cambridge is funded by Arts Council England East with additional support from Co-op Barfords and Hill Partnerships. With thanks to Kettle's Yard, The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Folk Museum. Peter Callesen is represented by Emily Tsingou Gallery.
