Keywords: site specificity, curation, visual art, context, concept
The PhD project “Present Beings – Artistic Methods on Site and in Time” investigates site-contextual[1] art practice through dialogue with sites in Western Norway, where the site functions as both material and a conceptual framework. Definitions and methodological approaches in contemporary art-site relationships[2] are explored, where the central aspect to the artistic research is the artist’s capacity to engage with and reflect upon a site and its narratives through artistic presence.
The sites are determined by research into physical and archival material related to the history of oceangoing vessels and animal husbandry along Norway’s West Coast with a focus on the island of Karmøy: an island with a multi-faceted history in this regard. The material, combined with my background and experiences growing up on the island, will be a point of departure for an artistic exploration of human consciousness relating to presence in time and place, shaped by traces of the past. Central to this work is how the encounter with the materiality of a site can activate individual and collective memory, and therefore memory has potential use as a methodological tool in the creation of artworks.
I will research and use paradigms and terminology in post-modernist art discourse on site specificity as reflective tools, including methodological terms such as site-based, site referential, site-adaptable, site-sensitive, and of course; site-specific art, and more. This investigation will map established terms and identify possible novel ones, study the boundaries between them, and the placement of my own artworks within them.
The project further examines the role of the contemporary artist as a meaning-producing curator within the field of site-contextual art, exploring the methodological intersections that define this hybrid practice rooted in the artistic process. In this context, a meaning-producing approach entails the effort to establish a conceptual framework that deepens the connection between artwork and site for the viewer while fostering critical engagement.
The PhD project will result in a body of artworks where the relationship to their physical and temporal context is examined with a particular attention to the influence of location, duration, materiality, and authenticity. The artistic outcome can give new insight into artistic work with the mechanisms that influence the perception of sites and contribute to the field of site-contextual art by developing a methodology for working holistically with sites, identifying tools and strategies applicable to both artistic and curatorial practices that will foster insight into the resonance between site and artwork.
Research questions
- What methods can support artistic processes and foster critical thinking in producing and presenting site-contextual art projects?
- How can these methods be used to express how the perception of a site is conditioned by traces of the past and the complexities of lived experience combined with cultural, scientific and ideological influence?
Jane Sverdrupsen (b. 1979) is a visual artist and curator based in Bergen, Norway. She holds a bachelor’s degree (2010) and a master's degree (2013) in Fine Art from Bergen Academy of Art and Design, now part of the Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design at the University of Bergen (KMD). She is pursuing a PhD in artistic research at KMD (2024–2028) with a focus on the role of the artist-curator in dialogue with sites.
Sverdrupsen has served as the director of Kunstgarasjen (2023–2024) and the director of Rogaland Kunstsenter (2020–2023). Prior to these roles, she worked at the Bergen Academy of Art and Design/Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design, UiB (2013–2020).
Her use of methods, techniques and materials are diverse and determined by the concept of each art project. Research into a given topic is a substantial part of the artistic process. An interest in how experienced reality is shaped by the complexities of one's own time; characterized by current knowledge, and cultural and societal structures, drives her work.
Sverdrupsen’s artworks have been exhibited in Norway, Ireland, Australia, Portugal, Iceland, North America, China, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Notable examples of her curatorial work include co-curating the Stavanger Art Museum’s exhibition From the Balcony in 2020, and the site-specific exhibition Ultimo Scenario held in the former Children’s Clinic at Haukeland University Hospital before its demolition in 2017. She curated the group exhibition Utbrudd 2020-2021 at Rogaland Kunstsenter in 2021, which dealt with the societal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, Sverdrupsen curated Intimated Structures, the Norwegian segment of the first-ever exhibition exchange between Norway and the Dominican Republic, shown in the Dominican National Gallery.
The artist-as-curator-as-artist is present
In the PhD-project “Present Beings – Artistic Methods on Site and in Time” I investigate the site as a framework for artistic and curatorial methodologies. in this dialectic presentation I will pose questions about the potential and challenges that emerge at the intersection of artistic and curatorial practices.
There is significant variation in the way artists work with curators. A fully collaborative process, in which artist and curator work together from the outset, differs fundamentally from a model in which artworks are selected post-production by a curator. My research focuses on the creative potential inherent in collaborative dynamics and the methodologies employed in such engagements.