Exploring the relationship between the bodily and the artificial, photographers Sebastian T. Thorsted and Jasko Bobar present Heterotopia, an exhibition opening on January 24 at Copenhagen’s Ungt Rum. The young artists’ starting point is the question: How little is needed before something becomes, feels and is perceives as unnatural? Find possible answers in their show.
What can I say about the body that hasn’t been said already? To some, it’s a temple we must take care of; for others, a vehicle for our soul; some people live carelessly without paying much attention to it while others devote their entire lives, energy and resources to moulding it to their own ideal. And in these recent years, it’s becoming more political than ever – although, hasn’t it always been? Perhaps, now we’re realizing the fact and reclaiming the ownership of our flesh. One way or another, we all have one, and with it, come issues about self-acceptance, beauty, trauma, discrimination, love.
But the Danish photographers prefer to avoid those more political views and focus on visual perception only. “We hope that the viewer will experience the body and its forms anew through our work and the exhibition. It is insignificant whether it moves boundaries or not as long as it gives a sense of an aesthetic experience of confusion, which hopefully can lead to speculations and wonder”, they say. Manipulating the bodies through digital retouching as well as physical tools like props, objects, and clothes – by up-and-coming designer Emil Bang Hoffmann –, Thorsted and Bobar challenge the idea of how a photograph ought to look like while, at the same time, defying societal norms about how to cover it, decorate it or even train it. With apparent influences from artists like Polly Borland, Paul Kooiker or Lucy McRae, delve into their highly-manipulated universe and discover new approaches to the human body.
But the Danish photographers prefer to avoid those more political views and focus on visual perception only. “We hope that the viewer will experience the body and its forms anew through our work and the exhibition. It is insignificant whether it moves boundaries or not as long as it gives a sense of an aesthetic experience of confusion, which hopefully can lead to speculations and wonder”, they say. Manipulating the bodies through digital retouching as well as physical tools like props, objects, and clothes – by up-and-coming designer Emil Bang Hoffmann –, Thorsted and Bobar challenge the idea of how a photograph ought to look like while, at the same time, defying societal norms about how to cover it, decorate it or even train it. With apparent influences from artists like Polly Borland, Paul Kooiker or Lucy McRae, delve into their highly-manipulated universe and discover new approaches to the human body.
The exhibition Heterotopia by Sebastian T. Thorsted and Jasko Bobar opens on January 24 at Ungt Rum, Griffenfeldsgade 50, Copenhagen.
