https://kiosken.studio KIOSKEN Thu, 17 Sep 2026 13:13:56 +0000 https://kiosken.studio en https://kiosken.studio/FEEDEN Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:26:47 +0000 KIOSKEN https://kiosken.studio/FEEDEN Kiosken is an exhibition space, a residency, a project room and a sales venue for contemporary art across genres in the heart of Bergen, Norway. <img width="1500" height="400" width_o="1500" height_o="400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cbab9ef9a15e17a28407b9edc0cd8c42769662953bf3a6cf0eeab4ee106b326f/kiosk_2.png" data-mid="252262028" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cbab9ef9a15e17a28407b9edc0cd8c42769662953bf3a6cf0eeab4ee106b326f/kiosk_2.png" /> <img width="1500" height="400" width_o="1500" height_o="400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/03b439ddd3e1ee8f44fc1ae1b6197490b14f65f89bb4969c56d3e7ad556c761a/kiosk_1.png" data-mid="252262029" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/03b439ddd3e1ee8f44fc1ae1b6197490b14f65f89bb4969c56d3e7ad556c761a/kiosk_1.png" /> <img width="1500" height="400" width_o="1500" height_o="400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/abaff8b8cdd0245051497b9ed4945cfd44a1db47ba1df58215b5fca2eacd8477/kiosk_4.png" data-mid="252262172" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/abaff8b8cdd0245051497b9ed4945cfd44a1db47ba1df58215b5fca2eacd8477/kiosk_4.png" /> CURRENT EXHIBITION CURRENT EXHIBITION CURRENT EXHIBITION CURRENT EXHIBITION CURRENT EXHIBITION&nbsp; BØYGD (12 SEPTEMBER–31 DECEMBER 2026) at KUNSTHUSET KABUSO BØYGDKIOSKEN EXHIBITION at KUNSTHUSET KABUSO12.09.–31.12.2026Opening: September 12, 17:00–20:00<img width="4961" height="2502" width_o="4961" height_o="2502" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/11c1f9bdaaf51554feabf0fb5ff0d3babf3eeca86380a321fa506648e6f9e2e7/kiosken_kabuso4.jpg" data-mid="252262543" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/11c1f9bdaaf51554feabf0fb5ff0d3babf3eeca86380a321fa506648e6f9e2e7/kiosken_kabuso4.jpg" />MORE INFO https://kiosken.studio/BOYGD Thu, 17 Sep 2026 13:13:56 +0000 KIOSKEN https://kiosken.studio/BOYGD BØYGD at Kunsthuset KabusoEXHIBITION 12.09–31.12.2026Opening: September 12, 17:00–20:00 <img width="4961" height="2502" width_o="4961" height_o="2502" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6ceca0e680d2390ec37a4c4293c9a52982e3c46481e927faebd9f777c31d9729/kiosken_kabuso4.jpg" data-mid="252262485" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6ceca0e680d2390ec37a4c4293c9a52982e3c46481e927faebd9f777c31d9729/kiosken_kabuso4.jpg" />Artists: Hege Iren Aasdal, Tor Erik Bøe, Silje Ensby, Margaret Abeshu Leversby, Cato Løland, Ingeborg Tysse and FjordMoods. Partners: Hardanger Folkemuseum and Hardanger Maritime Centre. Curated by Kiosken — a curatorial collective and exhibition space in Bergen — with a team consisting of Daniela Ramos Arias and Siv Støldal, in close collaboration with Stine Aas. To bend, to bow, to yield, to manoeuvre, to expand, to connect, to reach out and touch another. To be porous, to absorb, to open up and let things in. In 2024, we at Kiosken began an exciting conversation with Sissel Lillebostad, Head of Department at Kunsthuset Kabuso, who invited us to curate an exhibition at Kabuso in 2026. This felt like a rare luxury — not only to have time to plan, research and think, but also to expand our curatorial practice. We knew we wanted to bring our interdisciplinary, collaborative identity into this project and create opportunities to meet and exchange ideas. This led us to Bøygd: an exhibition that invited artists, designers and traditional craftspeople to come together, share their knowledge and processes with one another, and absorb something from each other's practice. They spent time together — both in Hardanger, where the exhibition takes place, and in Bergen. We facilitated working sessions and visits to workshops, studios and ateliers, creating space to work side by side. In this way, the practices became grounded in a deep understanding of one another, and knowledge from Hardanger resurfaces through new hands. Storeteigen, part of Kvam Bygdemuseum and safeguarded by Kabuso, served as a base for artists living far from Hardanger. There they stayed at a historic farmstead surrounded by trees and flowers, with a clear view over the fjord — a place to build connections with tradition and history through one's own artistic practice. The invited artists share a strong curiosity and willingness to learn from their surroundings — a collaboration with nature and materials that is inherent to each of their practices. We proposed pairings to draw them into conversation with one another. Ingeborg Tysse explored and spent time at Hardanger Fartøyvernsenter. Cato Løland and Hege Iren Aasdal — both collectors in their own ways, with a deep attachment to found materials — were invited to look closely at each other's practices. Margaret Abeshu explored textile through skautfelling, a traditional pleating technique being researched by Agnete Sivertsen at Hardanger Folkemuseum. Tor Erik Bøe lived for a period in Hardanger, engaging with local traditions and the particularities of the area through textile. Silje Ensby, a photographer and filmmaker with a keen interest in traditional craft, was invited to document skautfelling and basket weaving, contextualising the conceptual approach of the exhibition within its broader setting. The conversations between the artists throughout this process have uncovered thoughts about bodies, labour, identity, past, present and future — shaping a world within the exhibition that carries us to an unfamiliar place and time, populated by characters and objects that feel both familiar and strange. These build narratives from local histories, traditions and the possibilities of materials: an intimacy placed in parallel dimensions, together with craft, history, the local and the individual. https://kiosken.studio/SUSANNA-ANTONSSON Thu, 18 Jun 2026 14:03:03 +0000 KIOSKEN https://kiosken.studio/SUSANNA-ANTONSSON NATTSYNER - SUSANNA ANTONSSONEXHIBITION 18.06.2026 - 08.08.2026Opening: June 18, 17:00–20:00 <img width="2275" height="2926" width_o="2275" height_o="2926" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1b371a1fc89ebd53ed3cbafabf3f2cfa7163b908d661db328f49a97083705941/FoInster-II-kopia.jpg" data-mid="249588963" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1b371a1fc89ebd53ed3cbafabf3f2cfa7163b908d661db328f49a97083705941/FoInster-II-kopia.jpg" />Throughout history, the night has been a necessary time for finding the peace required for creative work. The painter Barbro Östlihn assisted her husband with his paintings during the day and used the night to create her own. Sigrid Undset wrote late into the night while caring for her children during the day. Nattsyner presents a series of paintings that explore the pace of the night and the movement into stillness. The expectations of daylight rationality and the demands of everyday life seem absent in the darkness. The night becomes a representation of Virginia Woolf’s “room of one’s own,” the space she emphasized as essential to the possibility of creation. Antonsson uses repetition as a method for approaching thoughts on the conditions of attention. The motifs become like revenants that continually return to remind us of something forgotten. One of the recurring motifs in the exhibition points to the checkered patterns found on everyday household textiles. Using these grids, Antonsson constructs a structural and simplified painterly language. Modernist artists such as Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko similarly painted lines and simplified fields of color. They did so with the ambition of reaching beyond the earthly and toward the eternal. In contrast to this aspiration, everyday objects are always present in Antonsson’s paintings. Curtains and kitchen towels point to how we remain bound to life on earth. Yet we can always look up at the moon at night. Susanna Antonsson holds an MFA from the The Art Academy in Bergen. She has exhibited at, among other venues, Galleri BOX (SE), LNM (NO), Hordaland Kunstsenter (NO), Galleri Knipsu (NO), Kristiansand Kunsthall (NO), Not Quite (SE), and Tag Team Studio (NO). Antonsson lives and works in Bergen. https://kiosken.studio/Henriette-Mauritz-Nordbeck Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:30:41 +0000 KIOSKEN https://kiosken.studio/Henriette-Mauritz-Nordbeck HENRIETTE MAURITZ NORDBECKKIOSKEN SHOP EXHIBITION 06.06.2026 - 08.08.2026Opening: June 6, 12:00–16:00 <img width="3648" height="4864" width_o="3648" height_o="4864" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3ae770b272808af3c6fdff7b9a77bccc8ee3115993d1338d58c58bdba7867d7d/rediggertgronn2.jpg" data-mid="249154467" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3ae770b272808af3c6fdff7b9a77bccc8ee3115993d1338d58c58bdba7867d7d/rediggertgronn2.jpg" />I KIOSKEN Shop presenterer Henriette Mauritz Nordbeck veggmonterte vevde arbeider. Gjennom kombinasjoner av ull, silke og bomull oppstår mønstre og motiv som vokser frem fra selve overflaten. Resultatet er taktile overflater som aktiveres av rommet, lyset og bevegelsen til den som betrakter dem. Etter veving farges arbeidene i en kombinasjon av plantefarger og kjemisk innfarging. Mønster og motiv fremkalles i fargebadet gjennom fibrenes ulike fargeopptak. Forskjeller i glans, struktur og valør skaper subtile relieffer som endrer karakter med lysforholdene og betrakterens posisjon. Nordbeck undersøker hvordan materialer responderer på tid og ytre påvirkning. Gjennom plantefarging, kjemisk innfarging og lyseksponering oppstår gradvise forskyvninger i overflaten, der farger blekes, forandres og omformes. Arbeidene befinner seg i spennet mellom det permanente og det forgjengelige, og undersøker hvordan lys kan forstås som en materialisering av tid. Materialene behandles som samarbeidspartnere i stadig forandring. Denne forståelsen av materialets responser som aktive og meningsbærende knytter praksisen til dypøkologisk tenkning, hvor menneske, materiale og omgivelser inngår i gjensidige relasjoner. Om kunstneren Henriette Mauritz Nordbeck (f. 1998, Oslo) har en BFA fra KHiO og fullførte sin MFA ved Kunstakademiet i Bergen i 2025. Hun har også studert stedsspesifikk kunst ved Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, og bor og arbeider mellom Bergen og Wien. Hun har tidligere stilt ut ved Kunsthalle Exnergasse i Wien, Bergen Kjøtt, Akademirommet ved Kunstnernes Hus, Kunstverein Baden og Galleri Format, og har realisert et offentlig oppdrag i Sandviken, Bergen gjennom KOROs STUDIO(studio)-program. KIOSKEN mottar støtte fra Bergen kommune, Kulturrådet, Norske Kunsthåndverkere og Vestland fylkeskommune. https://kiosken.studio/Hannah-McDonald Mon, 18 May 2026 13:25:00 +0000 KIOSKEN https://kiosken.studio/Hannah-McDonald TAKEOVER by HANNAH MCDONALD with Martin Holm, Rita María Muñoz Farías, and Johanna SevholtTAKEOVER 30.06.2025–27.07.2025Openings: 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th July, 17:00–20:00<img width="7952" height="5304" width_o="7952" height_o="5304" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2d65f96675b33486dfb363373396fdb36b675eb5135029f2f7bfc686a18e5230/HM_08.jpg" data-mid="248433999" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2d65f96675b33486dfb363373396fdb36b675eb5135029f2f7bfc686a18e5230/HM_08.jpg" />The window acts as a surface between inside and outside, but one which could invite connection rather than act as obstruction: waving goodbye, inviting curiosity, or gazing out into the world. It reflects a balance between public and private. <img width="5304" height="7952" width_o="5304" height_o="7952" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/71d53f6bb5beee1c81831b6e06deeb31d0ce233966cee3e03e10225f2b07001a/HM_23.jpg" data-mid="248433995" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/71d53f6bb5beee1c81831b6e06deeb31d0ce233966cee3e03e10225f2b07001a/HM_23.jpg" /> Working on site, the artists will make their process visible through the window. Creation typically happens behind closed doors—in studios, homes, or before gallery openings. At Kiosken, the public is invited into this unfolding process. <img width="7952" height="5304" width_o="7952" height_o="5304" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/24c96394b4651f1a29213dd36f8422a7d54ee3713b930fef112c54f1c25557be/HM_02.jpg" data-mid="248434000" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/24c96394b4651f1a29213dd36f8422a7d54ee3713b930fef112c54f1c25557be/HM_02.jpg" /> Each week, Hannah will collaborate with a different artist to create an evolving installation visible from the window. With collaborative work one has to be open to working in a constant state of flux as one person adds or edits something outside of you. &nbsp;In TAKEOVER the artists will focus on the act of ‘doing’ with open responsiveness. <img width="7952" height="5304" width_o="7952" height_o="5304" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d93c7b0e1c5c5ca92133c54a5efdcd72dd72cc135241ab5e5b02263371b2874b/HM_12.jpg" data-mid="248433997" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d93c7b0e1c5c5ca92133c54a5efdcd72dd72cc135241ab5e5b02263371b2874b/HM_12.jpg" /><img width="7363" height="4911" width_o="7363" height_o="4911" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bc9ef5b564f5cb0fd9ba603451c891ae598aec9db649cfdc1118c843f19a806c/HM_11.jpg" data-mid="248433998" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bc9ef5b564f5cb0fd9ba603451c891ae598aec9db649cfdc1118c843f19a806c/HM_11.jpg" /> The space is open to visitors throughout the whole of the process with there being a mini opening and performances every Friday. In the final week there will be an open discussion with all four of the artists over shared food. <img width="7952" height="5304" width_o="7952" height_o="5304" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d5a85a47fa8726ad21f52792dc8e9ece7e5cd102cc9f7642f5d28f36012e946c/HM_21.jpg" data-mid="248433996" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d5a85a47fa8726ad21f52792dc8e9ece7e5cd102cc9f7642f5d28f36012e946c/HM_21.jpg" /> Week 1: Hannah &amp; Martin - inter-exchange between process, collage and drawing. A handing-off of material: reusing, repurposing.Opening - 17:00-20:00 Friday 4th July Week 2: Hannah &amp; Rita - mark-making and movement, reading each other and exploring interpretation through drawing and dance.Opening - 17:00-20:00 Friday 11th July Week 3: Hannah &amp; Johanna - investigating conversation as action and reaction, visualized through drawing in space.Opening - 17:00-20:00 Friday 18th July Week 4: All 4 artists bring their work together to create a space for reflection and discussion.Opening, with dinner + discussion - 17:00-20:00 Friday 25th July <img width="7849" height="5235" width_o="7849" height_o="5235" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9d8c9cbdeee6a33445cba402d2ea6c8d5f4d42b198078ffcd02fd24acf79459f/HM_27.jpg" data-mid="248433994" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9d8c9cbdeee6a33445cba402d2ea6c8d5f4d42b198078ffcd02fd24acf79459f/HM_27.jpg" /> ---------------------------------------------------Artist BiosHannah McDonald (b.1993, UK) has an MFA from KMD (2025). Based in Bergen/Gothenburg, she explores process-based work through her studio practice and by facilitating dialogue and creating collaborative experimental spaces.www.hannahlmcdonald.com @hanlmcd Martin Holm (b.1985, SWE) is based in Gothenburg with an MFA from Akademin Valand (2014). He works with the correlation of pop-culture, history, philosophy, magical realism and geometry through painting, collage, assemblage and recycling. He runs Thingness, a domestic micro gallery/podcast with Hannah.www.martinholm.se @marty_isle @thingness_gallery Rita María Muñoz Farías (b.1995, NO) is a performance/video artist based in Bergen, working with the body in relation to the room, queer themes, language, and different materials. She has an MFA from KMD (2025).www.ritamariamunozfarias.com @ria_illunis Johanna Sevholt (b.1989, SWE). Her practice is based in a dialogue with mediums such as clay, paint, sound and printmaking. She recently finished her MFA at KMD in Bergen.https://cargocollective.com/johannasevholt @sevholt Kiosken's program is generously supported by Vestland Fylkeskommune, Bergen Kommune, Norsk Kulturrådet and Norske Kunsthåndverkere. https://kiosken.studio/Nina-Eriksson Mon, 18 May 2026 12:43:52 +0000 KIOSKEN https://kiosken.studio/Nina-Eriksson NINA ERIKSSON: mmmbraceEXHIBITION 23.04.2026 - 30.05.2026Opening: 23.04.2026 KL 17:00Live reading and publication launch: 10.05.26 KL 15:00 <img width="3060" height="4080" width_o="3060" height_o="4080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/094bf5ff335bbc238addcae99bc65d682f419c554b983a8e6e18fb1d24d507f6/1000023392.jpg" data-mid="248433449" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/094bf5ff335bbc238addcae99bc65d682f419c554b983a8e6e18fb1d24d507f6/1000023392.jpg" /> The show mmmbrace comes out of Nina Eriksson’s research into material and conceptual frameworks for investigating queer materiality, physicality, and imagination. The project pairs leather and latex: sister materials in association, yet entirely different in character. In mmmbrace, these two materials take and question their positions as they are formed into physical presences that long, warp, hold, and watch. The sculptural works in the show hint at a different world, gesture at hidden functions, and flirt with the line between what the body holds and what it is held by. <img width="2789" height="4180" width_o="2789" height_o="4180" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1988ad495331dccb55af18191a93b0e0c2807d1dce61512e65bb505a4fb52488/Kiosken-Nina_07.jpg" data-mid="248433453" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1988ad495331dccb55af18191a93b0e0c2807d1dce61512e65bb505a4fb52488/Kiosken-Nina_07.jpg" /><img width="2893" height="4336" width_o="2893" height_o="4336" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/940733241206eb803ad88a3b58e4a1b15c9f28cf98847996ae36f8174266373b/Kiosken-Nina_01.jpg" data-mid="248433455" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/940733241206eb803ad88a3b58e4a1b15c9f28cf98847996ae36f8174266373b/Kiosken-Nina_01.jpg" /> <img width="3408" height="4826" width_o="3408" height_o="4826" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e235456f92dd28b2ffe15aeded61dd4c50149753648362509e3ca4ecae4c0040/Kiosken-Nina_06.jpg" data-mid="248433454" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e235456f92dd28b2ffe15aeded61dd4c50149753648362509e3ca4ecae4c0040/Kiosken-Nina_06.jpg" /> “The materials are fetishistic, and the way I work with leather and latex is fetishistic: I am devoted and curious in search of poetic and erotic potential. Through my sculptural and textual work I reflect on use and pleasure, and how a queer, flirtatious approach can provide new representations of desire, identity and future.” In addition to the exhibition, Eriksson has produced the publication mmmbrace, which launches during the exhibition period. It contains an experimental essay about the time, texts and themes that have gone into the show, as well as a text work made for live reading. This text work will be performed at the launch of the publication on May 10th at 15.00 - more information to come. <img width="3448" height="5168" width_o="3448" height_o="5168" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8225b7adcf4584b58a98610d2ccba6e97f70514ac6dfd65248d3dd898d16a7f7/1-5.jpg" data-mid="248433450" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8225b7adcf4584b58a98610d2ccba6e97f70514ac6dfd65248d3dd898d16a7f7/1-5.jpg" />Nina Eriksson (1997, SE) is an artist and writer working and living in Bergen. She graduated with an MFA from Bergen Art Academy in 2025. Recently, her work has been shown at Gyldenpris Kunsthall, Recover Laboratory in Helsinki, and Nonneseter Kapell. She is currently showing work in Homografiska Museets (SE) acquisition exhibition for 2026, and is part of Conditions Studio (UK) Online Programme’s 2025/6 cycle. photography: @joeycbravoThis exhibition and Kioskens program is kindly supported by Bergen Kommune, @vestlandfylke, Kulturdirektoratet @kulturradet, @norskekunsthandverkere and Kunstsentrene i Norge https://kiosken.studio/Hege-Iren-Aasdal Mon, 18 May 2026 12:16:27 +0000 KIOSKEN https://kiosken.studio/Hege-Iren-Aasdal HEGE IREN AASDAL: SOFT SPLITEXHIBITION 17.01.2026 - 15.02.2026Opening: 17.01.2026 KL 12:00Workshop: 17.01.2026 kl 14:00 <img width="1920" height="1536" width_o="1920" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bc70b39bbf9b965ec147e2c8e22ccebd88d4a4b15c886933178109141ca2524b/Kurvmakerverkstaden-03-2.jpg" data-mid="248428745" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bc70b39bbf9b965ec147e2c8e22ccebd88d4a4b15c886933178109141ca2524b/Kurvmakerverkstaden-03-2.jpg" />Hege Iren Aasdal is one of the few in Norway holding a journeyman's certificate as a basket maker specialising in split materials. Her practice begins not with the basket, but with the act of harvest — a temporal negotiation between maker, material, and landscape. Each stick collected is a connection to history, to those who before her walked the same paths and tended the same land. It is about more than baskets and techniques — it is about following the seasons, about knowing when the time is right, about harvesting with thought not only for the one basket, but for all those to come for years ahead. A constant dance with nature, an eternal search for materials. "The harvesting and processing of materials is my most important task and it forms the foundation for everything I do and make. This connection that the materials create between me and the cultural landscape and history is much of what I wish to convey. It's not only about baskets and techniques for weaving, but about how people tended the cultural landscape, what they used from what exists around us, how one can follow the seasons." In this exhibition Aasdal wished to honour the materials, celebrated for their inherent beauty and their capacity to hold memory, place, and practice. Each stick has its story. Each basket sings its song. <img width="4690" height="3129" width_o="4690" height_o="3129" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f8d7c341573ab0f73ffdc535286788af7443842d939851c091b8cbce3a8ad547/Kiosken_Hege_03.jpg" data-mid="248428742" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f8d7c341573ab0f73ffdc535286788af7443842d939851c091b8cbce3a8ad547/Kiosken_Hege_03.jpg" /> FILM The exhibition included the short film Mjuke røtter / Soft Roots, made by filmmaker Silje Ensby (b. Oslo), a visual artist educated at the Bergen Academy of Art and Design. Over the past decade, Ensby has worked with film in close collaboration with traditional craftspeople who possess unique knowledge of natural materials and traditional craft techniques. Soft Roots centred on Aasdal's work and process, documenting the intimate relationship between maker, material, and landscape that lies at the heart of her practice. <img width="3448" height="5168" width_o="3448" height_o="5168" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0bcaf11ab3b8fae1b14ffa0ec394bd2c9b181e7f5f98d179401601d386f01629/Kiosken_Hege_07.jpg" data-mid="248428738" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0bcaf11ab3b8fae1b14ffa0ec394bd2c9b181e7f5f98d179401601d386f01629/Kiosken_Hege_07.jpg" /><img width="3964" height="2843" width_o="3964" height_o="2843" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/393ce3c7735ca11259fd90eab1861cbec61895248e1b03b0e8f74e63efeefd57/Kiosken_Hege_05.jpg" data-mid="248428740" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/393ce3c7735ca11259fd90eab1861cbec61895248e1b03b0e8f74e63efeefd57/Kiosken_Hege_05.jpg" /> https://kiosken.studio/Bas-Ruis-interview Sun, 18 Aug 2024 11:45:51 +0000 KIOSKEN https://kiosken.studio/Bas-Ruis-interview Images by Johanne Karlsrud BAS RUISKIOSKEN STUDIO RESIDENT: JUNERESIDENCY &amp; INTERVIEW01.06.2024 - 30.06.2024During his residency in June, artist Bas Ruis (1995, NL) considered KIOSKEN’s position by the harbour, and his own experience of Norway. He went on field trips to local industrial and nautical companies - where he sourced waste materials such as boat-sails and wool - to create a series of sculptures that were presented in the exhibition Soft Anchor and the Gore-Tex Boat: A Floating Question of Belonging.&nbsp; Throughout the exhibition and during his residency, Ruis played with ideas of of belonging, connection and displacement - looking out to the aquatic as a slippery zone of both industrial labour and playful leisure.You can read an interview with Bas about his practice, his relationship to play, theory and ready-mades below, alongside documentation from his exhibition and from placing his work around Kiosken.&nbsp; BAS RUIS&nbsp;Bas Ruis (B. 1995 Netherlands/works and lives in Bergen, Norway) creates idea based sculptures from a domestic themed viewpoint. Those sculptures come to life through an indepth research about play and the homo-ludens. By looking through the lens of absurdism and playing with the idea of Baudrillard’s simulacrum, he creates an uncanny encounter with everyday objects. While humor draws the viewer in, the critique on who is welcome, growing up and the loss of frivolity soon become apparent. The contradicting nature of his work hands the viewer a lot of entry points. It sets and breaks boundaries: it challenges them to rethink and question their daily life in a playful manner. Throughout the years he has developed a way of making that revolves around combining things. He looks for unusual or contradicting combinations and turns them into sculptures. These sculptures give him a feeling of belonging, even though they often have a contradicting nature. They reflect on and deal with how he is seeing the world, and maybe on the way he is sometimes overwhelmed by it. KIOSKEN STUDIO is a unique residency program that spans across the entire field of contemporary art, craft and design. During their residency, artists, designers, writers, musicians, performance artists and filmmakers are invited to work on ideas they want to further develop at Kiosken's premises for a period of four weeks. The public can follow the process through the large shop windows facing the street. KIOSKEN STUDIO is organised through an open call.Kiosken is an interdisciplinary gallery and project space dedicated to artists, designers and artisans in the region. Through our shop, residency- and exhibition program, we aim to increase the visibility and earning potential of arts, crafts, and design in Vestland. <img width="2500" height="1668" width_o="2500" height_o="1668" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/29bed063a36ecf56df528428a0a5a664ab010ddd2279f80ed7d3a9b419653453/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006767.jpg" data-mid="216557190" border="0" data-scale="86" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/29bed063a36ecf56df528428a0a5a664ab010ddd2279f80ed7d3a9b419653453/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006767.jpg" /> KIOSKEN IN CONVERSATION: BAS RUISKIOSKEN IN CONVERSATION is a series of interviews and studio visits by writer and curator Ruby Eleftheriotis, that engages with our current exhibiting artists, KIOSKEN STUDIO residents and the Kiosken Shop community.I met Bas in Kiosken in the midst of his residency. A large, cushiony anchor rested on the floor, grey wool spilling out of it´s edges. Aquatic architectures sprung up around the room, limp paddles, plastic anchors and a gore-tex boat sat amongst us. A perfectly shining pearl bag sat on a table, with a jawbreaker neatly perched ontop of sandy sugar inside. Bas talked me through the works he was working, how they come into being and the difference between playing in the mind and playing with materials.&nbsp; R: Ruby Eleftheriotis B: Bas Ruis&nbsp; Wednesday 26 June 2024, 11:04<img width="2500" height="1668" width_o="2500" height_o="1668" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/11895de471303fd9170980d4d7ddc20c83da322157a72f3524ede4a6d989a63f/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006831.jpg" data-mid="216557441" border="0" data-scale="79" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/11895de471303fd9170980d4d7ddc20c83da322157a72f3524ede4a6d989a63f/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006831.jpg" />R: It looks amazing in here - tell me a bit about what’s going on? B: Good question (laughs). Last year I saw the Open-Call for the Kiosken residency, and the idea came quite quickly - this idea of a soft anchor and a gore-tex boat. I always wanted to work with gore-tex. And then I like this opposition that happens: a boat is floating, an anchor is stiff. I guess an anchor could be this big for a cruise ship, but when I think of an anchor I normally think of a small one for a boat. So there is something about playing with expectations here. I had the idea of making an anchor about a year ago, and I thought about making it from normal textiles, but then about a month ago I thought it would be very nice to make it from the sail of a ship. So me and Siv went to Sailmaker Iverson. Siv is very into textiles so it was a great fit. She told me about this local sailmaking factory and how she always wanted to go, so we went on a little road trip together! They gave us a tour of the building and we asked if they had any waste materials, and they had this big sail that they couldn’t use anymore as it has a few small rips. R: I really like that you tapped into Siv’s practice and resources while at Kiosken, it fits very well&nbsp; - the way she uses unconventional materials or practical materials in new contexts… B: Yeah it worked really well. I also went with her to the wool factory that she goes to for leftover wool. It is nice to repurpose it now, and to work with these new materials. R: I remember reading through your open-call, and finding it really beautiful in a simple way: this idea of a floating anchor - something heavy made light… It was really poetic and playful at the same time. B: And I guess that is also the idea: to transform something into something else. Something unexpected. There’s also the work&nbsp;Wetsuits for objects #3, Jerry Can. I made a wetsuit for a jerry can. It is perhaps a more conceptual work. I was thinking about the sea level rising, because that is going to happen. So we are building dams, and now we need to build things for the stuff blocking the river because they will get cold and wet (laughs). At first I was gonna use the…monoblock, you know the classic plastic garden chair that you see everywhere? It has become such a symbol for waste… R: Yeah, the one you always see strewn everywhere on the news after a natural disaster… It's like a symbol for the apocalypse. B: Yeah, so I made that on a residency in Portugal, because you see the chair everywhere there. Here in Norway you don’t see it so much, but the jerry can is everywhere, it’s an oil country. So I like how stupid and futile an idea it is to invest your time in keeping the jerry can storing the oil warm whilst the sea is rising. R:&nbsp;It's exactly the sort of logic of instead of fixing the actual problem, you make the things that happen because of the problem ok. Yes the sea level is rising, but don’t worry cos the oil won’t get wet. (laughs) B: Exactly, it is sugar coating the problem. But I really like this piece. I love this fabric neoprene and as an artwork it came together so quickly. The idea was just there. And then the real ready-made is the sugar and the jawbreaker in the clam bag. I found the bag in Fretex and I saw it and knew I wanted it but it took me a long time to figure out what to do. R: I’m curious, from the moment you find this bag, to it existing in the world as an art work: what's happening? B: Playing in the mind (laughs). I guess it is association - you look at it and think of the oyster, then the pearl. But in this case, the outside is the pearl with this iridescent fabric. So that is not confusing and that is interesting to me. And then the ‘pearl’ is this jawbreaker which is kind of a pearl for a child. <img width="1668" height="2500" width_o="1668" height_o="2500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ac88a6e52d776e91948cea2b41ecd09d37e22b7dd790847a95e2761b81ffa7e1/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006790.jpg" data-mid="216557459" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ac88a6e52d776e91948cea2b41ecd09d37e22b7dd790847a95e2761b81ffa7e1/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006790.jpg" /> <img width="2500" height="1668" width_o="2500" height_o="1668" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/435c473aef04c7d45225aac4c66cc2aca3113ffb0744182d0ed19d60cd63aea9/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006771.jpg" data-mid="216557460" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/435c473aef04c7d45225aac4c66cc2aca3113ffb0744182d0ed19d60cd63aea9/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006771.jpg" /> <img width="1668" height="2500" width_o="1668" height_o="2500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0cab27333fb55eb2ae3f883f0a74f07b9418d8763463fb4699aace0197290f91/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006689.jpg" data-mid="216557458" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0cab27333fb55eb2ae3f883f0a74f07b9418d8763463fb4699aace0197290f91/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006689.jpg" /> <img width="1668" height="2500" width_o="1668" height_o="2500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0781a8d48c245db5c939b0cdb0230b93e644b2d177c18e98f5173d536cef65fe/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006706.jpg" data-mid="216557457" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0781a8d48c245db5c939b0cdb0230b93e644b2d177c18e98f5173d536cef65fe/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006706.jpg" /> R: How do you relate to play in your work? B: I think play is really important in my work. Play is everywhere. How we talk now, how we walk… everything is a choice of how you put it out into the world. I think it is so important to keep things playful. And that doesn’t mean that seriousness cannot exist within it. During my Masters I did a lot of research into play theory. Sometimes play is frowned upon, and that was also the case in Philosophy back in the day. In all kinds of theoretical frameworks about so many topics, they always neglected play, as it was seen as not intellectual enough. Then there was this Dutch guy - Johan Huizinga - and he was one of the first people to really question why we aren’t thinking about play more, as it is one of the most important things in existence - everything comes from play. It is the essence of everything. If you are a child, you learn through playing. You need to keep it playful to evolve to the next step. But yeah, long story short… The whole play theory thing is kind of a contradiction in itself because in the context of theory it's really boring (laughs). R: I think that… more than theory… is it a method or way of being? Often philosophical thinking is about finding answers - knowing things. But play is always about not knowing… you are playing to find out. As a child you play to learn, so it is from a point of curiosity and questioning. And that is very much more open-ended. B: Yeah and that is a nice link back to the anchor. The works I made in the past are more strictly ready-mades. A 3D collage in a way. It was so playful, but I missed actually playing. Ready-mades are more like playing in the mind… you play to find the concept and then the making can be done quickly - in almost half a day sometimes. I was getting slightly bored of that. I look at my partner Femme Ter Haar and she spends days drawing in the studio, it is a long process. I miss the actual playing - the conversation you have with the materials and seeing new things comes to life, that you can only know when you have it in your hands. When I started the Fine Arts&nbsp; Masters, I wanted to work more with raw materials and less with ready-mades, and now it feels like after graduation I can really explore that. R: I love the idea that the ready-made is playing in your mind. But I’m looking at the anchor and the boat you have made. These are not ready-mades… but they still appear almost like ready-mades (laughs). For example the gore-tex life-ring looks practical, almost manufactured. It makes me believe a gore-tex life ring is a real thing, but it isn’t. Do you understand what I’m getting at? (laughs) B: I do! I like when you don’t really know if it is something mass produced or not… A lot of the time I know it is finished when it looks real, but you can tell it isn’t mass produced. It is almost too perfect, but not really. R: I think that is what makes them sculptures: placing them more towards art rather than design. The ambiguity of them… B: I think about hyper-reality and this idea that we have been exposed to so many images of something that is real, and then it becomes surreal.&nbsp; R: I can see that in your work, playing with the levels of representation. Is research and theory a big part of your practice? B: Ummm, I never know actually. I studied project design before. So I have a design background, which in the Netherlands is very concept based. Whereas here in Norway I found it strange at first - people could make without having a water-tight concept. My background required a really strong concept before even thinking about making. While I think that is nice, I wanted to do the Masters to get rid of that. Because it gets in the way of playing. Conceptual playing in the mind is different from physically playing with the materials. I still love to do research. There are a couple of things I always go back to - like Albert Camus, the Myth of Sisyphus and stuff like that. But actually the art comes more from a place of not really understanding the world, and feeling like I’m here but not really here. And from the many strange things that go on in the world. So many of the objects seem functional but they really aren’t. Sometimes I take the function away from them, and then they become a bit annoying in a way. But that's how I feel as a human sometimes. You want to be able to succeed and you have a vision of how your life will work out and what to do and it never works out exactly to plan. It is annoying, but it is also part of life. It is a lot about confusion. And I want to embrace that.&nbsp; <img width="1668" height="2500" width_o="1668" height_o="2500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6f1df52b6c01a12ba846b8c1a539c59a411e0f339d1f875f8e9c14f98ef673d9/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006854.jpg" data-mid="216557472" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6f1df52b6c01a12ba846b8c1a539c59a411e0f339d1f875f8e9c14f98ef673d9/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006854.jpg" /> <img width="2500" height="1668" width_o="2500" height_o="1668" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b21e0c2f1f396c2e069214e2d269a0db809a7987f4a12c8a3c9a0245f6c92e48/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006828.jpg" data-mid="216557470" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b21e0c2f1f396c2e069214e2d269a0db809a7987f4a12c8a3c9a0245f6c92e48/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006828.jpg" /> <img width="1668" height="2500" width_o="1668" height_o="2500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4a707fffe51be12c0c17bd4eb75a1751efda0bc00a60c54da454d562c85b1b68/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006796.jpg" data-mid="216557474" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4a707fffe51be12c0c17bd4eb75a1751efda0bc00a60c54da454d562c85b1b68/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006796.jpg" /> R: How influenced have you been by Kiosken’s surroundings? B: While I was writing the application I didn’t fully realise just how perfect the location would be for the project. I do think the whole thing is inspired by my 2 years of living in Bergen. R: (laughs) Is that where the gore-tex comes in?B: (laughs) Of course! In the Netherlands, it rains a lot but no one really wears gore-tex. So I guess I am influenced by my surroundings. For you it is the same as me, you know? Living in another country is strange - it is a beautiful adventure, but also very hard sometimes… R: And kind of surreal, you never quite know what is going on? B: Yeah so I guess the anchor is kind of a symbol for that. In Portugal I made floating anchors, which are in the same realm… a symbol of wanting to lay your base somewhere but it is always floating away. This big anchor is the same for this, because if you put it in the water it is never going to stay in the same place. Maybe that is a little too poetic but… R: It also brings in a personal element to your work… when I look at your work in the past I’ve never got a super personal, biographical aspect to your work, but perhaps that is a symptom of the ready-made format? But this seems slightly more personal when you explain its background? B: I guess this is something I want to move towards… my stuff has kind of always been personal in a way, thinking about misunderstanding in the world, being confused… but sometimes the extra touch is missing. I want to explore it more, to evolve or come to a next step with my practice. I look at other artists like my friend Jack O’Flynn and I see how his work is really personal, and that is due to the fact that you can really see his hand, his markings in the work.&nbsp; You lose that in a ready-made. R: I think there is something about seeing an artist really playing materials that brings the personal to it. There is something about the hand, seeing the hand who made it traced in the materials. Which is maybe hard in the ready-made? B: Yeah, which is hard because at the same time, I like the quality that you do not know if it is made by hand, or manufactured by a machine. I want that confusion and contradiction. I also like to think my work is still approachable - that it can create a reaction in anyone who is walking by, even if they don’t know about ready-mades or play-theory.&nbsp; <img width="2500" height="1668" width_o="2500" height_o="1668" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cde9c900aaeed50e62bd48cd338112854179fe5813428e923c9784651d95a07e/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006625.jpg" data-mid="216557638" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cde9c900aaeed50e62bd48cd338112854179fe5813428e923c9784651d95a07e/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006625.jpg" /> <img width="1668" height="2500" width_o="1668" height_o="2500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/265a54bc673604784d23035d18288f3b39d73144eaf9d0fc957fde6d811a4621/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006703.jpg" data-mid="216557639" border="0" data-scale="48" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/265a54bc673604784d23035d18288f3b39d73144eaf9d0fc957fde6d811a4621/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006703.jpg" /> <img width="2500" height="1668" width_o="2500" height_o="1668" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6fb73602310441ae4fdaeb4b30e90d310f1b49cd0b7ee2d4f0a49a6aaa6bbec6/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006701.jpg" data-mid="216557661" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6fb73602310441ae4fdaeb4b30e90d310f1b49cd0b7ee2d4f0a49a6aaa6bbec6/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006701.jpg" /> <img width="1668" height="2500" width_o="1668" height_o="2500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d93ffac4e620922a0549ca783b1fb8c01df2fd6b8f9c47b3981da8d89d55875a/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006694.jpg" data-mid="216557662" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d93ffac4e620922a0549ca783b1fb8c01df2fd6b8f9c47b3981da8d89d55875a/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006694.jpg" /> <img width="2500" height="1668" width_o="2500" height_o="1668" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/37bba273b66a988fa1a02c52855fdea1d8c2dfa6bd9212d7b60f1aa88ef22764/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006792.jpg" data-mid="216562235" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/37bba273b66a988fa1a02c52855fdea1d8c2dfa6bd9212d7b60f1aa88ef22764/Bas-Ruis_JK-1006792.jpg" />