Avgang Tromsø 2021: Olga Gry Becker
I intervjuserien Avgang Tromsø 2021 har Hakapik snakket med alle nyutdannede kunstnere fra Kunstakademiet i Tromsø. Her forteller Olga Gry Becker om sitt bachelorprosjekt On the Background (2021).
Olga Gry Becker is interested in the experience of art. Working on her piece for the BA/MA Degree Show she looked to theatre and scenography for inspiration. Her exploration manifested itself in two installations and a performance, in which the Tromsø Kunstforening building becomes part of the show.
By Marion Bouvier, Hilde Sørstrøm
Can you talk about about the piece On the Background? How did it come together?
– I was on an exchange in Copenhagen working as a scenographer in the field of theater and film. It made a big impression to see all these people at work, technicians and photographers, doing their thing in a specific role. I got very occupied with the “art experience” and how art is made of physical things and people. How it is not only a good idea, but an actual experience that people can have. This is more present in the thinking when you create theater where you use things to make a certain impact. Coming back to Tromsø, I knew I wanted to work with people as a material. I wanted to have at least one performer, and to experience myself as someone who gives instructions to someone else.
– I also wanted to work with scenography. I’m interested in situations where there is potential – and every situation has potential. A room with a lot of materials, strips and straps that are piled up in the corners, can be used for everything. They carry the potential to realize imagination. So in the addition to the performance, which was the main thing, my work at the graduation show consists of a welded lighting truss – like the ones you use to hang lamps on in theaters. The other part of the work is this yellow paper in the staircase that I soaked in oil: it is clear that it’s paper, but it’s also apparent that it has been manipulated. And then outside I have a silicon backdrop. I also made a salon on the finissage, which for me was very important even if the weather was bad.
– It was fun installing at Tromsø Kunstforening. Looking at everyone working, I realized how I work. I was wondering; «where is my content?” I don’t have the feeling that I bring something into the world, I am more extracting something out of a situation or some material maybe. Thoughts about the install comes before the content if it even makes sense to make this division.
– I also cannot imagine installing this piece anywhere else. The colors and the sizes are made specifically for Tromsø Kunstforening. I wanted to play with the inside and the outside of the space. I wanted to point out Tromsø Kunstforening as a background.
Have you been influenced by living, and studying, in Tromsø, as an artist?
– While working with the degree show I was very anxious and I have been quite nervous about having to make something. I feel I have learnt more about critical thinking, which is an inward process. I have been focusing on the conversations I’ve had with the people I’ve met here, more than the «art making». It has also been very scary to come here but Tromsø is now so familiar and cute. Now I’m just happy and grateful that I’m here.
So you decided to stay in Tromsø after graduating?
– Yes, I just moved to Kvaløya, and it feels good! I don’t know what will happen in my life, but now I have this little Kvaløya paradise.
