Detour

In the summer and autumn of 2018, Artipelag expanded its artistic offering and offered an outdoor exhibition called Detour. Here, the forests, meadows and water provided a natural backdrop for the sculptures.

Since its inception, Artipelag has established itself as an art museum with a special relationship with nature. The museum building’s sedum roof, tarred wooden walls and large panoramic windows all speak of an openness to the outside world. Thus, we usually describe our art gallery as a ”green room”, a kind of greenhouse for art. By arranging an outdoor art installation, we took a new step towards exploring the symbiosis between art and nature.

Each of the artists that participated in the first part of Detour has a special relationship with nature, and their work is characterised by an ability to see a living creature in it. But while they share this ability, their works are markedly different from each other in terms of approach, material choice and size (the exhibits range from 50 cm to 10 m tall).

Most of the artists were Swedish and included Charlotte Gyllenhammar, Maria Miesenberger, Klara Kristalova and Kennet Williamsson. Our neighbouring Nordic countries were represented by Per Kirkeby, Tal R and Idun Baltzersen. Even though Eva Schlegel and Jaume Plensa may not have a direct link to Nordic identity, they do have a relationship with the Nordic romantic tradition and approach to nature. Many of the included works are now permanently displayed at Artipelag in our exhibition Sculpture in Nature.

By placing Detour beyond the architectural boundaries of the building, it became a continuously evolving exhibition. It explored the relationship between art and nature, and invited guests to discover the area surrounding Artipelag. It implied both a physical journey and a fictional landscape, and beckoned visitors to embark on an intricate quest to explore the human aspect of the landscape. It was a detour off the beaten track, where you could come across everything from geology to biology, astronomy to holistic world views.

About the Exhibition

Contributing artists in 2018 were Idun Baltzersen, Joel Fisher, Charlotte Gyllenhammar, Per Kirkeby, Klara Kristalova, Maria Miesenberger, Lars Nilsson, Jaume Plensa, Tal R, Eva Schlegel, Ulrika Sparre and Kennet Williamsson.

Artipelag Play

Ulrika Sparre created, by simple means, entirely different kinds of detours than just the physical, in the outdoor exhibition. She starts from a collection of nature stones, having decorated them with signs associated with different sounds. The combination of signs and sounds creates a complex and enigmatic experience, which opens the possibility to think about whether the secular society based on science holds all the answers, or not.