THETAVILLE

Fotogalleriet is pleased to present Jan Freuchen’s solo exhibition Thetaville. In Thetaville the gallery space has become the setting for a labyrinthian scene, formerly used as a stage set for the two videos on view in the gallery.

With the support of honeycomb cardboard walls, mirrors and doors Freuchen created the illusion of an endless maze inside the gallery prior to the exhibition itself, using it both as a backdrop and central element for his film. The film’s protagonist finds himself drifting around in this structure – bored, immersed in day-dreams or impatiently searching for an escape.

The film’s title Thetaville is, apart from its reference to Jean-Luc Godard’s sci-noir Alphaville (1965), a transliteration of the brain’s low-frequency theta waves – where self-consciousness slips away and one can find oneself staring mindlessly at the ceiling. This tripped state is not only introverted, but also fleeting and all-embracing – as if subjectivity seeps out into the surroundings.

In addition to the videos the exhibition consists of the deconstructed stage-set: partly turned into sculpture, partly into photographic collages presented in a newspaper produced especially for the exhibition. All the elements on view are thus modifications of one and the same situation, entangling the viewer in an ambient and theatrical setting as intruder, witness and co-protagonist.

Jan Freuchen (born 1979 in Kristiansand, lives in Berlin) studied at the Bergen Academy of Art and Design (2000-2004) and Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main (2003). Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include Echo Chamber (with Linn Pedersen), Galleri Volt, Bergen (2012), F.A.Q., Galleri Erik Steen, Oslo (2010), Desire Lines, Sørlandets Kunstmuseum, Kristiansand (2009) and Objet Perdu (with Lutz-Rainer Müller), Pierogi, Leipzig (2008). Participations in group exhibitions include Books & Co, Gagosian Gallery, New York (2013), Vårutstillingen, Fotogalleriet, Oslo (2012), The Riot Act, Galerie Mor Charpentier, Paris (2011), Rehersal, Gallery NON, Istanbul (2010), Momentum, the Nordic Biennial – Favoured Nations, Moss (2009), If You Destroy the Image, You’ll Destroy the Thing Itself, Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen (2008), Lights On, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo (2008) and 1st Athens Biennial, Athens (2007).

Freuchen’s practice also encompasses curatorial and publishing projects, the latter through his own Lord Jim Publishing.

The exhibition is produced with the support of Fotogalleriet in addition to The Norwegian Visual Artists Associations’ Project Fund (Vederlagsfondet).