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KjARTan Slettemark (1932-2008) Sculpture of brain, 1966
In connection with KjARTan Slettemark's retrospective exhibition Titta jag sett (1982), this sculpture was purchased with funds from the Minister's H H Bachke's gift. The exhibition was shown at Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo and at Trondhjems Kunstforening.
In 1948, Minister H. H. Bachke bequeathed NOK 500,000 to Trondhjems Kunstforening. A gift to be used "for the purchase of foreign art - paintings and sculptures - older than 20 years, to increase Kunstforeningens permanent gallery." Chairman of TKF, Ingemann Torp, writes in Minister H. H. Bachkes billedgave til Trondhjem Kunstforening (1948) that this magnificent gift enables the association/Kunstforeningen/TKF? to fill one of its halls with valuable European art, and that the legacy's returns eventually enable a worthy collection of foreign art next to the gallery's collection of work by Norwegian artists.
Kjartan Slettemark is among the most distinctive and versatile artists in Nordic art scene in the post-war period. He experimented with a variety of genres and forms of expression, and in many ways challenged the distinction between art and life. Slettemark is known for using different expressions. From pictures, sculpture, performance to a number of stunts. He was in many ways the art himself and used both his body and his personal life in his works.
The work is made of mixed materials, including plastic and what may look like random rubbish placed inside the bubbles. The sculpture is dated 1966 and was made during a decade where plastic was seen as the material of the future. Plastic was everywhere and it could be produced in every conceivable shape and color. Today we may look at it differently.
The work is called Sculpture of the Brain, and this chaotic sculpture may reflect Slettemark's thoughts and part of his identity. It can be a picture of how we all carry with us different memories, thoughts and experiences – in our own brain, which no one can see.
