Exhibitions & projects
Welcome to the village of Kläppinge on the eastern side of Öland, near Kapelludden. A temporary intervention entitled ‘ÖGATS ARKIV’ is to be carried out here by Johanna Karlin; this work forms part of her project ‘Kläppinge 1:18’ (the property reference number) and takes its starting point in the estate of the former owner, Gustav Olsson. The work will be visible from the farmyard. The installation ÖGATS ARKIV constitutes a standalone continuation of the ongoing work on the Kläppinge 1:18 project.
ÖGATS ARKIV
When the weathered aluminium sheet is fitted to the cottage’s façade, a perceptual shift occurs: a process in which passive recognition is transformed into active seeing. When a non-functional object is placed in a distinctly utilitarian environment, a disruption is created – a ‘break’ in the familiar. The work functions as a visual threshold and a frame without a frame. A gap emerges in the creation of meaning, forcing the gaze to slow down.
By drawing attention through its own form and concept, the artwork influences its surroundings. The familiar – the texture of the wall, the patched-up window, the movement of the grass – ceases to be a passive backdrop and steps forward as form, materiality and rhythm. The viewer not only sees the artwork, but sees the surroundings through the artwork. The sheet metal functions as an activated archive. Its creases, earth and dried sheep droppings constitute indexical traces – direct, physical imprints of the site’s ecology and history. Through this elevation, pragmatic actions (such as the window’s protection against the jackdaws) are transformed into an aesthetic assemblage. When the sheet metal catches the light, moves and rustles in the wind, the viewer’s entire physical presence is engaged. The sculpture makes the invisible (the wind, the shifting light) perceptible and transforms the environment into an ongoing, charged event.
Since its launch in 2021, the project (K 1:18) has resulted in several public events, beginning with the exhibition (IN)FINITUDE in the farm’s stables. In 2023, the project took a new direction when, for the first time, material was moved from the farm to an institutional setting under the collective title: A MOMENT OF STILLNESS. This took place in the group exhibition ‘EAR TO THE GROUND AND EYES OUTWARD’ at Kalmar Art Museum, as part of the Småland Triennial. In 2024, the movement was reversed: the installation ‘The New Shift Work’, originally produced for the museum, was installed in Kläppinge and merged with the farm’s existing shift work under the title: A SEARCH FOR THE IDENTICAL. In 2025, the ‘material’ once again found itself in an institutional setting. As part of an exhibition fellowship, the solo exhibition ‘A Search for the Identical’ was held at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. In March of this year, a new instalment was created in Yellowbox Art’s exhibition space in the old school building in Sättra on Öland. The exhibition was titled DET FÖRÄNDERLIGA and consisted of new works. ÖGATS ARKIV is a standalone continuation.
