Trying to make sense of what to do. One of the biggest questions we all have had to deal with this unforgettable Spring, not only as an artist but in any position, is dealing with how things are shared. An art school is in many ways an exception in contemporary society, where questions and problems of a sometimes very specific and in some cases extremely personal kind, are given time and space to find its place in an outside world that is busy thinking about other things.
‍
How to make art, talk about art, make artworks meet an outside world and on an even more basic level, how to meet peers and other art practitioners, are usually things taken for granted. This has become something we all have to rethink. When a studio is no longer the place where art can be made, when galleries, museums and other venues are closed or have limited access, other ways have to be considered. This was not what we dreamed of some twenty years ago when “internet art” was a possible future for a generation of artists. Little did we know that this old dinosaur would be the guy we would look to now.
‍
Zoom is now our second home and a format we quickly got accustomed to. It has become a space for working and a space to chat about everyday things. Now it is also a place where we present ourselves to the world, even if it is just the world of the ones closest to us, depending on whom we choose to have our conversations with. This is the time when a conversation in bed or in your parents' couch becomes as natural as an office or a studio setting. The everyday and the place or time for work is blurred and it really doesn't matter to us.
‍
When using this format for a show such as this, the blurring continues. The site is that of a zoom-meeting. But the meeting has turned in to an art show where visitors can get a private view into each of the participants temporary home ground. Works are either done directly for this platform or are documentations of presentations that have or might have taken place.
‍
What might seem as a shortcoming or a second hand version, can possibly be replaced by something more personal and intimate. When the term “private view” is no longer valid as “a grand crowded opening with drinks and hugs”, and we are forced to revaluate our practices and our personal situations, it can come closer to a look into the lives and working conditions of an artist, this spring of 2020.

Thomas Elovsson
Professor