Marit Følstad “The Marble Index”
Rooster Gallery
This event has ended.
Rooster Gallery presents The Marble Index, Marit Følstad’s first solo exhibition in New York City.
Consisting of a multi-channel video installation, two single channel video works, a soundtrack, sculptures and prints, The Marble Index borrows its title from Nico’s influential 1968 album, produced by John Cale, which was described by critic Simon Reynolds as “one of the most harrowing and death-fixated albums in rock history.”
With a broad spectre of references, from rock history to baroque portrait painting, all of Følstad’s works in this site-specific installation investigate and explore the relationship between sound, space and video image. Through the breakdown of organic structures and the process of recreating them into new forms and meta-systems, Følstad creates an immersive installation and achieves a true Gesamtkunstwerk that captures the viewer and facilitates a place for thinking, reflection and new associations to the hidden backdrops, thus providing the works their raison d’être.
Sound and space have a close relationship and in The Marble Index none takes precedence to the other, working simultaneously and attuned, as the artist is particularly interested in what happens when pre-recorded sound and architectural space meet. Følstad is therefore aware that the pitch in the space is based upon wavelengths that correspond to the measurements of the room, frequency is determined by the size of the space and is also dependent on its intrinsic qualities – hard, soft or textured surfaces, resonance ability, etc. – among other factors that influence the final outcome of her work.
The permanent presence of sound, especially composed by Berlin based musician Svarte Greiner, allows both gallery floors to be connected in a deliberate attempt to guide the viewer through a space inhabited by visual elements and physical objects while immersed in a sonic experience.
Marit Følstad will also be releasing an artist book in May, published by the Norwegian art book publisher Teknisk Industri, during her stay in New York (dates to be announced). Additionally there will be book launches in Chicago, Berlin and Oslo.
Marit Følstad (b. 1969 in Tromsø, Norway) lives and works in Oslo. She is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice encompasses video, sound, sculpture and installation. Følstad received her education from Glasgow School of Art in Scotland (1998) and School of the Art Institute of Chicago in USA (2000), and she was a recipient of a Fulbright grant for the International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New York in 2002/03. Følstad has since participated in numerous exhibitions in Norway and abroad, exhibiting in international venues such as Palm Beach ICA, Florida; Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona; Sculpture Center, New York; Arthouse, Austin, Texas; CoCA Seattle; Malmø Art Museum, Sweden; Museum of Installation, London; and Norwich Gallery of Art, England. In Norway she has most recently shown at The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo; Bergen Art Museum; Northern Norway Art Museum, Tromsø; and Galleri Haaken, Oslo. She was also included in the exhibition ABOUT FACE: Self-Portraiture inContemporary Art, The Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover in 2015. Her work is included in numerous collections both public and private in Norway and abroad.
Svarte Greiner (Erik K. Skodvin, b. Norway 1979) lives and works in Berlin and is founder of MIASMAH Recordings. Svarte Greiner and Følstad have collaborated on several projects, namely Everything Merges With The Night (Oslo Kunstforening, 2010); Sense of Doubt (Entrée, Bergen 2014) which also included a live performance at Landmark, Bergen Kunsthall; or more recently the KORO Project (Norway, 2015) a 13-Channel sound installation with a duration of 102 years, inspired by Arne Nordheim’s Poly-Poly and John Cage.
Media
Schedule
from April 21, 2016 to May 22, 2016
Opening Reception on 2016-04-21 from 18:00 to 20:00