MISANTHROPOLOGY
31ST OF OCTOBER - 20TH OF DECEMBER 2015
ASBJØRN SKOU
Kunsthal NORD has the great pleasure of presenting Asbjørn Skou’s solo exhibition Misanthropologi – an extensive exhibition inspired by Aalborg’s rapid development from an industrial to a knowledge- and culture based city, with subtle references to the dystopian science-fiction, which we recognize from - among others - George Orwell’s ’1984’, Aldous Huxley’s ’Brave New World’, and J.G. Ballards novels. With his new work, Asbjørn Skou challenges architecture and urban planning as concrete manifestations of the social paradigms, economic power structures and cultural codes, which are part of forming our collective subconscious.
Kunsthal NORD is being equipped with a range of huge photo collages, which will turn the exhibition halls into mutated artistic total installations, where one can move around, both literally and mentally.
The many black and white photos depict – amongst others - asbestos, toxic sites, mould and cement production. However, there is also space for postmodernist, mirror-like buildings that are open to cracks, arteries and caverns.
Gaps, where concealed elements and distinctive beings potentially hide, that can potentially broaden our understanding of time, life forms and spaces for action as well as remind us about the exposed human position in the midst of architecture, ideologies, industrial toxic sites and the capital’s speculative spells.
Asbjørn Skou thus stages the architecture as a manifestation of our collective fear, urges, dreams and desires, but if anything artistic, critical and mystifying rather than clarifying and objective.
At first the exhibition is black, intimidating and freaky. However, there is little light in the darkness, despite the fact that there is not much space left for either the human itself nor the humane in the dystopian society, the trauma of the collective subconscious can perhaps through artistic dialogue be negotiated, articulated and maybe even healed.
The exhibition received the cryptic Danish-English title Misanthropologi, which can be understood as the study of the origin, the behaviour and the physical, social and cultural development leading to hatred of humans.
A misanthrope’s hatred is not directed towards specific individuals after all, on the contrary, it is directed towards humanity in its entirety and therefore also towards the misanthrope himself.
Misanthropologi is Asbjørn Skous largest solo exhibition to date.
Read the exhibition's paper
See or download the exhibition catalogue here
The exhibition is sponsored by