Børre Sæthre. Last Dance

Børre Sæthre (b. 1967) is one of Norway's most prominent artists and is known for his all-encompassing installations and sensuous effects. Sæthre references queer culture, cinematic history and escapism to create installations that envelop the audience. This summer, he takes on the futuristic Tårnsalen at Kode in Bergen with a site specific installation.

Last Dance is the final instalment of a trilogy – a three-part project that aims to illuminate the phenomenon of ‘cruising’ from a historical and socio-political perspective, with a look back at the AIDS crisis and its consequences for queer culture. The first part of the trilogy was the installation Ghost Arcade (2019) at Trondheim Art Museum, and the second part was the award-winning exhibition The Sound of the Atom Splitting (2021) at NITJA Centre for Contemporary Art. The final part of the trilogy, Last Dance, will take the form of a site-specific installation at Kode.

Immersive and seductive

A central element of the installation is a site that has significant historical importance to cruising culture in Bergen. At Kode, this specific place has been reconstructed and is surrounded by oscillating light components and flickering nightclub elements. Last Dance will materialize through a series of semi-abstract objects made of hand-blown glass. On a platform, a towering structure extracted from nature creates a monumental focal point of the installation.

Sæthre aims to create spaces that can appear both surreal and strange, oftentimes eliciting a sense of alienation. Additionally, he uses objects and recognizable fragments taken out of their ordinary context. One can sense the outline of a narrative, one without a defined beginning or end, and whose purpose functions as a sensuous reactor. One can choose to approach Saethre’s work with the eyes of the artist, the architect, the writer, the filmmaker, or the scientist. The reflections from these perspectives will only form part of the picture—the conclusions become ambiguous and lead us into a world of dreams and dystopia, repressed memories, and voyeuristic fantasies.

About the artist

Børre Sæthre graduated from the Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts (1993-1996) and has had residencies at ISCP (International Studio and Curatorial Program) in New York, USA, and Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin.

Several of Sæthre's installations have made their way into Norwegian art history, including The Sound of the Atom Splitting at NITJA, which won the Art Critics Award 2021, and the Bergen International Festival Exhibition ‘From Someone Who Nearly Died But Survived’ (2007) at Bergen Kunsthall. Sæthre was nominated for the Lorck Schive Art Prize in 2019.

Sæthre has had exhibitions at Astrup Fearnley Museum (2001), Galleri Wang (2003), Henie Onstad Art Centre (2004), The National Museum / Kiss the Frog (2005), Galerie Loevenbruck, Paris (2005), Sørlandets Kunstmuseum (2006), Participant Inc, New York (2006), Bergen Kunsthall (2007), MoMA/PS1, New York (2008), Arctic Arts Festival/Gallery of Northern Norway (2010), Northern Norway Art Museum (2011), MUDAM, Luxembourg (2012), Borås International Sculpture Biennale (2018), Hvitsten Salong (2020), as well as a number of public commissions.

Credits

The exhibition is made with support from Billedkunstnernes vederlagsfond.

Project Manager: Elise Petersen

Collaborators

S12 Galleri og Verksted v/ Galla Theodosis (glass works)

EasyFrom, Måløy Verft, DVI Service A/S, June Olsen and Øystein Nesheim

Birk Nygaard (lights, audio)

Exhibition technicians

Erik Markestad, Adam Korsak, Ketil Bratlid, Sturla Heggdalsvik, Bjørnar Hesby, Tine Adler Jørgensen, Tim Ekberg, Kristen Keegan, Alex Millar, Jason Dunne, Håkon Asheim, Katarina Kierulf and Peppi Liisa Reenkola