"In our society it seems that everything needs to be either black or white. That is not possible, things are not like that: it is all a big grey mess".
During a rainy autumnal day, I meet the artist Jan Christensen in the area of Oslo called Grunelokka. After introducing me a little bit to the area, we sit in a nice pub-style restaurant, where this conversation takes place.
Matilde: Where are you from?
Jan: I am born in Copenhagen but I am Norwegian. I grew up in Oslo.
M: When did you start to make art?
J: I think I got curious about art in high school. I didn’t attend an artistic high school so I started studying and creating art when I enrolled to Khio which is the Oslo National Academy of Arts in 1997.
M: Today you live between Oslo and Berlin, why did you choose these cities?
J: Well, I first went to Berlin because I got a job there when I was like 21 or maybe 22. There I started working in an art gallery but I have always been producing art on the side. Eventually I was able to work more on my art, to produce more and I got several residencies in many places around the world, like Sweden, France, Ireland, South Korea, Iceland and the USA. After I moved I haven’t lived in Oslo for 10 years, I kept my base in Berlin and I travelled a lot for both residencies and shows. Then I came back to Norway for personal reasons. So now I share my time between Oslo and Berlin or other places according to the projects I am working on.
M: In the early 2000 you have participated in the Høstutstilling which is a pretty big exhibition in Oslo. There you presented the remarkable work I will never make it. How did this impact your career?
J: Yes, that was a memorable exhibition. That was an art work that immediately got everyone’s attention in Norway. Actually then I was already living in Berlin and I came back to do this work which covered one entire wall at the exhibition. It was, in fact, a wall painting measuring about 4 x 9 meters. So yes, I would say that exhibition was quite important for me as a young artist. I won three awards for that piece which also had a personal importance because it mirrored how I felt at the beginning of my career. I think many people also related to it.
M: In your work you have experienced many different materials, techniques and artistic expressions: wall painting, collage, silkscreen, photography, sculptures and installations. Which ones are you more comfortable with?
J: I am very comfortable with digital technology actually. I feel that the digital tools allow me to make whatever I like. I am quite reliant on 3D modelling, I make a lot of models and sketches and I have the work manufactured by other people or I do it myself, it depends on the size. I have a very cosy little studio where I have four 3D printers. That allows me to produce a lot by myself but some of my projects are really big so it is physically impossible for me to do it in the studio. In these cases I collaborate with metal or concrete workshops that make it much more practical for me.
M: That is very interesting, could you mention one work that you made through this process?
J: One of the works I printed myself, for example, consists of a series of bronze letters that form the sentence Smooth seas don’t make a good sailor which is also the title of the work. That piece came to me very early, before most other people started using 3D printing. I was thinking how to make a sculpture whose shape was somehow related to the text. Eventually I came to the realisation that it would have been quite easy to find a way by using 3D printing. So I made it in my studio using a 3D printer and then I gave it to a metal foundry who made the bronze letters out of my model. This work is a really good one, it has been displayed a lot, also because it is very easy to take around in a suit case. And what is very cool is that it changes all the time because there are no rules on how to position the letters, it is up to the people who install it. So it can be very large or very small according to the distance you want in between letters.
M: What is your creative process like?
J: I am just constantly learning and playing with all the possibilities. I like to challenge previous or even current ideas of art, styles and practices. Even though something appears fashionable and many people like it, it is important to question what we see. Always. So I think that being aware of what is constantly happening and getting an overview of the time we live in, is an important part of being an artist nowadays. In this perspective we could say that also looking at other exhibitions and shows is a part of my creative process as it reflects the general discourse.
M: In your exhibition The sentinel you combined a wooden installation in the centre of the room with works on canvases hanging on the walls. How did you come to this result where both these expressions are in perfect harmony?
J: Well this work actually includes the entire space because I have also painted the ceiling, the walls and the floor. On the walls there were three canvases and in the middle of the space was hanging a mobile sculpture. All these elements were connected and they were communicating. The sculpture was a kinetic sculpture and there are some of its formal aspects that are mirrored in the three canvases. In addition, on the walls the lines weren’t straight nor parallel, they were on different heights. So there are some aspects of the sculpture that are made two-dimensional and at the same time the two-dimensionality is mirrored in the sculpture itself. My idea was basically to investigate the formal aspects of this sculpture, like empty and full spaces, volumes, forms and materials, on different dimensions and levels. I wondered what would happen if these shapes were put flat on the wall or moved around in the space. So I tried to do it.
M: At the National Museum of Architecture in Oslo, that opened on September 26, you have created a very complex wooden structure. This work includes many architectural aspects and skills. Was it challenging?
J: I made that piece together with another artist called Marius Dahl. We have both worked extensively with wood, digital modelling and CNC milling so we were prepared for this kind of project. The curators wanted a sort of “introduction” to the Oslo Architecture Triennale (OAT) so we made this structure as a gateway to the exhibition. It is a very dynamic and flexible sculpture because it is hanging from the ceiling. It floats in the air. We used scaffolding and cheap light wood, which are two construction materials, and ropes which is kind of a temporary or ephemeral material instead. So physically it is made with materials that you would normally find in a construction site but the concept has been pre-defined though digital drawings. We planned it so that it would have been easy to assemble, almost like a piece of furniture from Ikea. We have made many sculptures that involve architectural intervention. For this reason being part of the architecture triennale is an important moment for us as artists. In this way we get acknowledged in the field of architecture as well. It is interesting to cross over into other fields of expression.
M: What artists inspire you the most? J: There have been a lot of artists who have inspired me, among them: the Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija, the Scottish video artist and photographer Gordon Douglas, Jonathan Monk who refers to the past in order to question the present, the Norwegian photographer Vibeke Tandberg, who was a very early inspiration for me, because it made me realize that a Norwegian artist could make it on an international level. Other big names that I take inspiration from are Sol Lewitt, Lawrence Weiner and Donald Judd. But I have many others.
M: Many of your projects deal with contemporary issues. What do you think should be the role of art in our time?
J: Hopefully to change people’s minds. In our society it seems that everything needs to be either black or white. That is not possible, things are not like that: it is all a big grey mess. It is sad how people are manipulated and confused for example by politicians and religious movements. Art is a place for discussion, where questions can be made without necessarily finding an answer. There isn’t always an answer. Art opens your mind to other situations and ideas, maybe society can become a better place if people realize this. This is why art is important.
Thanks to Jan Christensen.
Sources: http://www.janchristensen.org/
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