COPENHAGEN

I love Copenhagen. Above and below are pictures of Klampenborg, a suburb about 20 minutes from Copenhagen Central Station, where there is a wonderful beach, and a modernist block of apartments designed by Arne Jacobsen. It would be so nice if in London in the summer it was possible to get on a train and be swimming in fresh, clear sea within half an hour.

Another detour from Copenhagen is the amazing Arken Modern Art Museum, which is also a short train ride away (the trains in Denmark are practically the definition of efficiency).

There was an AMAZING installation by Olafur Eliasson. Called Your Blind Passenger, the installation consisted of a 90m long tunnel filled with mist (so visibility was never over 1.5m) with changing light which went from bright white through to pitch black and then back to light again as you made your way through the tunnel. It was such an immersive, powerful piece, with all sorts of cultural and psychological connotations - and not to mention the interesting meta isssue of visiting a gallery to see something which enables you to see almost nothing at all. Fog is also a recurring motif in literature, art and religion, usually associated with transformation, mysticism and revelation.

Intrepid old folk in front of us:

There was a big multi-room installation by Anselm Reyle:

Your Negotiable Panorama (2006) is a permanent installation at Arken by Olafur Eliasson. When viewers enter the dark, circular space they pass over a small bridge with a sensor which, depending on the pressure applied, causes the water in the circular trough to be agitated, which in turn changes the amplitude and wavelength of the light projections on the walls.

Another Eliasson piece:

Mona Hatoum's Misbah (2006) is a rotating lamp which casts light projections of stars and gun-toting soldiers onto the gallery's walls, part of the artist's commentary on Palestine which often involves the subversion of objects traditionally associated with comfort and the home.

A still from Miroir (2001) by Elina Brotherus, a self-portrait film, which also explores the idea of fog as the artist gradually emerges as the mirror de-mists.

Didn't note down who the artist of this was...

Arken is surrounded by beautiful green fields and is located next to a huge sandy beach. Seeing art and then plunging into cold, clear water is a great experience.

Out and about in Copenhagen:

The Louisiana Modern Art Musuem, like Arken, is a short train ride from Copenhagen and is also situated on the coast.

There was a large and slightly rambling exhibition about architecture on, that came at the expense of their excellent permanent collection of art, which was mostly not on display. I can handle architecture exhibitions in certain doses, but too much is taxing.

Two higlights were both film installations. One (not pictured) was Koolhaas HouseLife (2008) by Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine, following the sceptical cleaning lady ("far too much concrete") around a problem-ridden private residence in France designed by Rem Koolhaas in 1998. The second (below) was Bottari Truck - Migrateurs (2007) by Kimsooja, which follows a truck laden with bottari (traditional Korean cloth bundles of goods) through the streets of Paris.


Max Ernst sculptures:

We stayed as always in the fabulous Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, which was designed and decorated by Arne Jacobsen in the 60s, and offers amazing views across the city.

I've blogged a lot more about Copenhagen in previous posts:

Copenhagen (2010)
Copenhagen (2009) part 1
Copenhagen (2009) part 2