Program
Welcome to the village of Kläppinge on the eastern side of Öland, near Kapelludden. Here, Johanna Karlin will carry out a temporary intervention combining a cottage and sheet metal—a work created as part of her project Kläppinge 1:18 (the property designation) and inspired by the estate of the former owner, Gustav Olsson. The work will be visible from the courtyard. The installation “När blicken tvekar” constitutes a standalone continuation of the ongoing work on the Kläppinge 1:18 project.
ÖGAT’S ARCHIVE
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.
