The Future Begins at Home

ASMUND HAVSTEEN-MIKKELSEN The future begins at home

——— UK building appear as an ordinary model. In his choice of subject matter, he plays on a collective memory of modernism’s spaces as Havsteen-Mikkelsen is interested in DREAMS ARE THE STUFF the mental space that buildings are exponents for, rather than the concrete space. THAT ARCHITECTURE IS MADE OF ——— Dynamic Opposites A formal characteristic of Havsteen-Mikkelsen’s paintings is the fact that they are constructed over dynamic opposites present not only externally, between two painting techniques for instance, but also internally in the individual styles. At first glance the work Spacey from 2008 seems composed with clear opposites as the basic principles: On the level of subject matter this is manifest as the personal dwelling versus the normative architectural structure, and in the composition light is contrasted with shade, inside with outside. Stylistically one finds Concretism (the clearly defined areas of pastose paint) versus realism (the work depicts a recog- nisable room), and opposites are also evident in the actual painting style which is ——— The Mental Spaces of Architecture both clear and distinct with no traces of the brush, only elsewhere to be light, loose Belief in the significance of architecture is premised on the notion that we are, for better or and expressive. for worse, different people in different places – and on the conviction that it is architecture’s Looking closer, however, the opposites are dynamically interwoven. The task to render vivid to us who we might ideally be. model for Spacey is Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye. The subject is an architectural icon, Alain de Botton1 originally created as a private residence but which never functioned optimally as such, as the house in many ways was unfit to live in. This in itself is a dynamic oppo- Since the Age of Reason buildings have been regarded as active and educational and site, one of the modernist convictions being that the rationally conceived dwelling with an ability to influence and change people’s mental spaces. The book The Architec- was to be comfortable and ease everyday life; the so-called “machine for living in”. ture of Happiness by Alain de Botton is a cultural historical exploration of our build- This opposite is emphasised by Havsteen-Mikkelsen’s treatment of the motif which ings with the presumption that they are not merely empty shells that provide roofs both opens up for the universal and the personal: Most traces of life have been dis- over our heads; rather they are exponents of our approach to the world. Architecture tilled away so that the subject appears to be pure with only the minimal space gen- affects us and helps shape our world – we both create it and are created by it. erating structures remaining. In a way, the dwelling has been taken back to its pure That architecture is more than a framework, that it also provides a direc- form, to the model before residence is taken up, everyday life begins, and the inhab- tion for our way of living and thinking our lives, is the point of departure for the art- itants make their personal marks on the house. Expressed through painting’s form, ist Asmund Havsteen-Mikkelsen (b. 1977). The exhibition The Future Begins at Home however, still the model is personalised and its universality is wrested from it. is a large-scale exploration of the fundamental architectural ideas behind our mod- Compositionally the opposites are evident in the tight construction of geo- ern dwellings today, presented primarily through paintings but also through site- metric figures; an abstraction which recalls the Concretism of the 1950s, juxtaposed specific works, dialogue based projects and sculptures. by free and expressive brushwork. The painting seems to be vibrating between a Asmund Havsteen-Mikkelsen saw his breakthrough in the middle of the synthetic purity and a saturated textural effect. The mutual dynamics of the oppo- previous decade with his evocative Hopper inspired subjects from the edges of the sites are given power because Havsteen-Mikkelsen allows the contrasts to be ex- big city, which emphasised places void of identity and relations such as tunnels and pressed within the frames of Concretism, in that an exaggerated illusionist space is petrol stations. Today the architectural structures still constitute the motivic foun- introduced in the work, capturing the viewer’s gaze but to such an extent that it dation in his works, but his spatial explorations have moved from the depiction of seems unreliable, thus breaking the illusion. In this way, the realist painting’s space, fringe areas and transit rooms to the canonised edifices of modernism and habita- which Concretism abandoned, is present in the work but without being maintained. tions of today. It is exaggerated through the formal dynamics and thus the illusion is forced back to His painterly explorations concern the architectural frames we erect around its concrete basis: the mere paint. our lives and which take part in governing the way we lead our lives. Therefore, it is a This subtle duality is a general device that Havsteen-Mikkelsen employs in recurring feature that Havsteen-Mikkelsen selects subjects that are often canonised his works, and it is present at all levels, compositionally, stylistically and in the sub- and normative architectural buildings, such as Le Corbusier’s 1931 Villa Savoye in ject matter. Paris or Richard Neutra’s Chuey House in California from 1958. In the cases where the Furthermore, in a number of paintings, Havsteen-Mikkelsen employs this point of departure isn’t famous buildings, Havsteen-Mikkelsen focuses on the archi- duality to create an atmosphere of “the uncanny” in his works – a theme he has ex- tectural structure and has the modernist traits carry the narrative, letting the 4 5 plored in previous solo exhibitions such as Meditations on the Uncanny and Chuey House, 2008

Estrangement City. The term is derived from Sigmund Freud’s text “Das Unheimliche” situations familiar things suddenly become unfamiliar, intimate things strange and from 1919. Das Unheimliche means the scary, creepy, directly translated “the un- safe things menacing. This distancing effect or “Verfremdungseffekt” takes place in home-ly”. With this ambiguous term Freud wished to draw attention to the fact that a number of Havsteen-Mikkelsen’s paintings through their pictorial reduction, the the familiar and intimate everyday rooms that surround us have an immanent abili- striking cropping and the evocative mood attained through the colours’ derealised ty to turn into their opposite. With this he meant that the structures and forms of values. On a critical level, this aesthetic strategy in itself becomes a statement on the rationality on which our behavioural patterns are based, have an ability to make ability of architectural structures to produce Verfremdung where ideally they ought themselves independent and thus alienate us – the users – from them. In these 6 7 to produce freedom. ——— active Use of Tradition is manifest in form as well as in painting style. The works appear as a closed form, Havsteen-Mikkelsen works actively with the tradition of painting, drawing heavily free of inherent references to the world beyond and thus also free of references to on the explorations made in the past sixty years by movements such as Concretist the artist and his hand in the creation process. Their works are experimental explo- painting; explorations whose results are continued and at the same time developed rations of creations of space. Richard Mortensen denoted the space in his works in his work practice, in that they support and offer substance to the themes he deals from this period “the egg shaped space” – a space which was both concave and con- with in his subject matter. He uses Concretism as form; it lies beneath his subjects, vex, built from surface and line, and which worked against a classically perspectival pulsating, giving composition and space to the paintings, but he also employs the space. Gunnar Aagaard Andersen took the space experiments to the next level, or- meanings that Concretism brings as art historical position. ganising his works from principles of repetition and fixed structures, making the re- The Concretists opposed a type of painting and art borne by expressivity, pudiation of subjectivism increasingly concrete, and anticipating some of the explo- spontaneity and consequently subjectivism. Works by Danish artists like Gunnar rations made by 1960s Minimalism. His works, however, also open up to an archi- Aagaard Andersen, Albert Mertz and Richard Mortensen are characterised by geo- tectural field, a social space, and compared with Havsteen-Mikkelsen, this move- metric and structural strictness, and all openings which might lead to figurative ref- ment is interesting because here is a connection between painting’s spatial experi- erences and on from there to symbolic and conceptual worlds are closed off. In their ments and the space of architecture. Havsteen-Mikkelsen expands Concretism’s ex- paintings the expressive brushwork – so essential to CoBrA and the subsequent plorations by making them figurative – by allowing them expression in a figurative Abstract Expressionism – is banned. The universal, not the personal, is key, and this space which, however, is never pure figuration because the spaces either open too much or reject the viewer with their materiality, making it impossible to sustain the illusion – a device which is most evident in the works Spacey and Garage.

——— Abstraction and Realism – a Paradox and a Possibility Yet, Concretism isn’t the only player on the field, for Havsteen-Mikkelsen also employs an expressive idiom and the meanings associated with it. The expressivity becomes an element that adds meaning to the works, as a stylistic device which opens up to personal and intimate aspects; the quick, loose brushstroke versus the sharply delineated field as manifest for instance in the work Spacey. Generally, abstraction is a keystone in Havsteen-Mikkelsen’s paintings, whether the issue is Concretism’s geometric and universally founded abstraction (in e.g. The Institution) or an expressive and subjectivally borne abstraction (such as the work The Escape Button). It is evident in works such as Silo, 2010, Living Cells, 2011, and Shadows in the House, 2008, but also present as a compositional principle in works such as Garage, 2010, and Rotaprint, 2010. This insistence on the significance of the abstract may seem like a contradiction in terms, in that the works operate within a realistic field with clear subjects and illusionist spaces. However, it becomes obvious if one realises the fact that every stroke and figure has an abstract meaning which goes beyond form itself and supports the statements presented in the subject matter. Havsteen-Mikkelsen’s complete and poignant works emerge in the interplay between the formal-abstract layer and the incorporation of the art and architecture historical references into the work’s totality. In the work Living Cells the window openings in the architectural façade are treated as paintings from Abstract Expressionism: Mark Rothko in one window, Barnett Newman in the other. On the other hand, the façade’s industrial severity, the repetition of uniform habitation cells and the seriality with which the building appears recall Gunnar Aagaard Andersen’s Concretism and the subsequent Minimalism in the 1960s when artists such as Donald Judd and Robert Morris in their sculptures avoided a personal artistic expression by basing their works on in- SPACEY, 2008 dustrially produced modules. Havsteen-Mikkelsen employs stylistic traits from two 9 opposite tendencies, Concretism and Minimalism on the one hand, Abstract Expressionism on the other. The focus for Abstract Expressionism is the actual act abstraction is tied to the space creations of Concretism. Skreber performs the same of painting, making the work characterised by the painter’s personal imprint. It is a balancing act between realism and abstraction as seen in Havsteen-Mikkelsen but different matter with the Minimalist works in which the mechanically produced where Concretism lies as an abstract undercurrent in Havsteen-Mikkelsen, in modules show no sign of human interaction in their creation process. In Living Cells Skreber’s works it is monochromatic painting that provides the foundation. these two radically different artistic creation strategies are combined; the industri- Furthermore, both artists are indebted to a painter like Luc Tuymans whose rela- ally manufactured versus the personally borne. The windowpanes open up for indi- tively simple subjects always open up for a story of other dimensions, allowing a col- viduality in the work’s appearance but are all locked into the overall grid, into the lective remembrance to play along. For in both Havsteen-Mikkelsen and Skreber, very architectural structure. In this way, Havsteen-Mikkelsen employs the stylistic the stories of the depicted places and spaces are a salient factor in the narratives and compositional planes to comment on the level of subject matter (a newly erected generated in the paintings, and although completely different stories are empha- housing estate in the Ørestaden neighbourhood), thus making a subtle comment on sised, both of them play on a collective remembrance, as when Havsteen-Mikkelsen the way in which we live and build today, where what should be open spaces and takes Villa Savoye as his point of departure or Skreber Columbine High School in planes turn into structures that lock individuality. Colorado as his. But as explained, the personal does play a subtle role in Havsteen- The same strategy is evident in the work The Institution, 2009, in which ex- Mikkelsen’s works; not in the subject matter, which assumes a collective remem- pressiveness has been downplayed and is only present in a few red strokes. The brance, but on a stylistic level where the personal angle is made via the meanings painting is dominated by geometric figures in cool greens and blues and with a clear embedded in the Abstract Expressionist painting tradition. separation between the individual planes. On a stylistic level this becomes a state- Havsteen-Mikkelsen explores architecture, which is a field that by defini- ment about the precedence of the universal over the personal. The depicted institution is collective and social. He “modelises” the depicted rooms, making them ap- tion appears created for universal purposes, despite an everyday life in which peo- pear as rooms that are familiar to us, even when we have never actually been in ple are in and use the rooms, but the rooms are unreal, making the viewer critically them. We know them because they have set a precedent for a building style that is question the way in which institutions today legitimise themselves. Were they made prevalent today. At the same time Havsteen-Mikkelsen gives us the rooms anew be- for the users or for their own sake? cause they have been filtered through painting’s textural and spatial elements. In the aesthetic strategy that Havsteen-Mikkelsen employs, the communicative Together the works constitute a kind of thought diagram which enables us to reflect power of the stylistic elements is added to the themes suggested by the subjects and on our space creations that are always embedded in collective patterns of meaning titles; at the same time he stretches and alters the boundaries of the realistic paint- and thus help create society’s notions of itself. For the rooms and the buildings are ing. not empty shells – they want something with us, they hold the requirement for a certain way of life, a certain pattern for the good life and the perfect society. ——— Revitalising Realism in Painting Havsteen-Mikkelsen is revitalising realism in painting both through his use of ab- ——— The Architectural Space and the Mental Space straction in the composition and his use of the narrative force of realism without “In reality, the architects of the Modernist movement, just like all their predecessors, wanted abandoning its textural nature. This is a trend evident in a broad spectrum of con- their houses to speak. … They wanted their houses to speak of the future, with its promise of temporary painters, including Tal R, Kaspar Bonnén and John Kørner, and outside speed and technology, democracy and science. … Despite their claims to a purely scientific of a Danish context in painters such as Luc Tuymans, Matthias Weischer, Gerhard and reasoned approach, the relationship of Modernist architects to their work remained at Richter, Peter Doig, Dirk Skreber and Clara Klein, to name but a few. Despite differ- base a romantic one: they looked to architecture to support a way of life that appealed to ences, a common denominator for these artists is that they work with figuration in them. Their domestic buildings were conceived as stage sets for actors in an idealised drama painting while drawing on experiences from other media and genres, such as con- about contemporary existence.”2 ceptual art, as well as the experiences inherent in abstract painting. In The Architecture of Happiness Alain de Botton points out that in some To a large part of these artists, the personal and intimate space is an essen- parts of the architectural Modernism, one finds an undercurrent of future optimism tial issue. This applies to Tal R and Kaspar Bonnén where the basis for the subject that is an expression of how the perfect life is to be lived and arranged. This aspect matter is everyday life, its objects and situations. Although the personal is an impor- of modernism is key in Havsteen-Mikkelsen’s works, but viewed from a contempo- tant feature in Havsteen-Mikkelsen’s works, it is not present in the choice of subject rary context and with a knowledge of the criticism levelled at modernist architec- matter. Therefore, it seems more obvious to suggest references to artists on the in- ture since the ‘60s. When modernism today fascinates Havsteen-Mikkelsen, it is ternational stage as those mentioned above, whose subjects are more universal. precisely because it grappled with that aspect of architecture, that it implicitly holds Klein’s abandoned rooms are rendered with such minimalism that their actual use is a demand for a certain way of life – a recipe for the good life. not evident. With no people or other clues to introduce a scale in the works, they are That architecture thus is presumed to affect one’s mental state is not new. freed from any limited meaning and function, taking on an abstract character. The Since the revolutionary architects’ reflections in the Age of Reason, this aspect has same movement is found in Havsteen-Mikkelsen’s The Institution, in which 10 11 been, if not at the heart of, then at least an important factor in the creation of buildings. In the architecture of the eighteenth century, this line of thought was implemented in the creation of public institutions such as the prison system, and in Denmark this was manifest in the neoclassicist C.F. Hansen’s penitary in Copenhagen. The penitary was designed with single cells as isolation and prayer were regarded as the inmate’s road to a moral life. People were considered in the design of the building; not as they were but as they should be. The architecture of modernism took the next step from public edifices to residential rooms, still with the assumption that architecture was more than a framework for the way we ex- press our lives, that it is also provided a direction for it. This is staged in a painting such as Garage, the subject of which is based on Jacques Tati’s satirical filmMon Oncle from 1958. The film is about the everyday life of the nouveau riche couple the Arpels in what should be a house with all modern amenities, a modernist gem. But something is amiss; in the absurd and funny por- trayal of the couple’s everyday life it transpires that the real inhabitants of the house are not the couple, because they are subjected to the furniture, the garden, the tech- nical installations and the house itself. They are living a modernist dream of the residence and life of the future but in realising that dream, the mechanics and the sys- tems take over, pushing the dreamers out on a sidetrack. They are turned into ill- placed extras in their own lives. In his book The Good Life – A Guided Visit to the Houses of Modernity, the ar- chitect Iñaki Ábalos describes the Arpels’ house as a representative of a positivist outlook.3 In this context, Madame Arpel’s brother, Monsieur Hulot, functions as the outside element that shows the distortion and the holes in the system. Where Monsieur Hulot appears as a parasite whose mere presence makes the positivist dream of the perfect life crack, similarly the expressive brushstrokes and the pure painterly and abstract fields in the work Garage function as the elements that dis- solve the realist representation. The orange railing in the bottom left corner is far more than a functional railing – it consists of expressive and painterly strokes which speak to the act of painting, referring to itself, free of a function. The orange brushstrokes seem to function as preliminary sketches in the painting but they do not sketch the composition or the figures. Rather, they are loose and expressive strokes on the dark green background that lies like an obscure maelstrom underneath the painting’s subject, tearing it free of a realistic basis. With the realism of the subject, the strokes seem without function and so contribute to the dissolution of the realism. And this dissolution is supported by the realism itself. The garage’s big, dark, inscrutable void sucks in the viewer’s gaze but at the same time is reserved and closed – no shapes appear from the darkness. The illusion is there but is broken by being dissolved in the disparate elements of the surface. Garage becomes a work that both deals with the necessity of retaining the dream about the future and is a re- minder that the complete rationalisation of our lives contains the danger that we cannot be present ourselves in the perfect life. In a work like The Future as a Sphere from 2011, there are clear allusions to the idealism of both the Age of Realism and modernism, but in his own way Havsteen-Mikkelsen explores their shared belief in emancipation through science. Although the subject is inspired by a building by Bernard Tschumi and Rem Koolhaas from Parc de la Villette in Paris, the sphere in the centre of the picture al- LIVING CELLS (detail/detalje), 2010 so refers to Étienne-Louis Boullée’s never erected eighteenth-century monument to Newton and to Richard Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic domes from the 1960s. The ——— DK spherical motif has other references than to the history of architecture since it also opens up to allusions to fortunetelling and uncertain statements about the future, and furthermore the sphere does not offer a glimpse of the future but a distortion of Drømme er det stof the present – of the sphere’s immediate surroundings. There is a painterly oppostion arkitektur er gjort af between the sphere and its surroundings: Whereas the area beyond the sphere consists of clearly defined and separated fields in which the individual brushstrokes are not evident, the sphere is executed in a lighter, more expressive style with strokes and colours blending, only to disappear in hues of white at the top of the sphere. The future shown by the work is neither idealised nor structured but is a distorted re- flection of the future that is expressive, personal and uncertain. Thus, it is not an infatuated fascination with architecture that sustains Havsteen-Mikkelsen’s works, but a recognition of how important it is to reflect on the framework in which we live our lives. The subjects he explores are the social aspects of the spaces and the concomitant life world with its mental space. With painterly means he takes the subject back to its foundation, to the model for the building, ——— Arkitekturens mentale rum thus reacting critically to the idea behind it. Critically and deliberately he works Troen på arkitekturens betydning bygger på den opfattelse, at vi på godt og ondt ændrer os with the traditions embedded in painting’s history, compositionally and stylistically med vore omgivelser – og på en overbevisning om, at det er arkitekturens opgave at give os et discussing the content found in his subject matter. The strict geometric figures, the levende indtryk af, hvem vi ideelt set kunne være. expressive brushwork and exaggerated perspective become devices that also point Alain de Botton1 beyond the frame of the painting – they become statements about space creations and statements about the relationship between the personal and the social in this Siden oplysningstiden er bygninger blevet opfattet som agerende og opdragende og movement. med en evne til at have indvirkning på og forandre menneskets mentale rum. Bogen Havsteen-Mikkelsen’s paintings are subtle explorations of the relationship Lykkens arkitektur af Alain de Botton er en kulturhistorisk undersøgelse af vores byg- between architectural and mental structures which in the overall theme of the ex- ninger ud fra den antagelse, at de ikke blot er tomme skaller, der giver os tag over hibition become a relationship to the future. A future that begins in the home when hovedet; de er derimod eksponenter for vores tilgang til verden. we start to consider why we live like we do. That it isn’t architecture examining itself, but rather another space creating medium – painting – makes the examina- tions strong and relevant. However, they reach even further, for in painting’s explorations of architectural structures it also explores itself in the borderland between realism and abstraction.

Dina Vester Feilberg, MA in Art History

——— (Endnotes) 1. Alain de Botton (2006): The Architecture of Happiness, page 13 • 2. Ibid, page 62-63 • 3. Iñaki Ábalos (2001): The Good Life - A Guided Visit to the Houses of Modernity, page 72.

14 Garage, 2010 Arkitekturen øver indtryk på os og er med til at forme vores verden - vi både skaber tilbage. Boligen er på sæt og vis ført tilbage til sin rene form, til modellen før bebo- den og bliver skabt af den. elsen sætter ind, hverdagen træder i kraft, og beboerne sætter deres personlige At arkitekturen er mere end en ramme, at den også er rammesættende for præg på boligen. Men udtrykt gennem maleriets form bliver modellen alligevel vores måde at leve og tænke vores liv på, er udgangspunktet for kunstneren Asmund personliggjort og fravristes sin almenhed. Havsteen-Mikkelsen (f. 1977). Udstillingen Fremtiden begynder hjemme er en storstilet Kompositionsmæssigt kommer modsætningerne til udtryk i den stramme undersøgelse af de grundlæggende arkitektoniske idéer, der ligger bag vores moder- opbygning over geometriske figurer, en abstraktion, der leder tankerne hen mod ne boliger i dag, og den udfoldes fortrinsvis via malerier, men også gennem stedspe- 1950’ernes konkretisme, der modstilles af en fri og ekspressiv penselføring. cifikke værker, dialogbaserede projekter og skulpturer. Maleriet står og vibrerer mellem en syntetisk renhed og en mættet stoflighed. Asmund Havsteen-Mikkelsen slog igennem i midten af sidste årti med sine Modsætningernes indbyrdes dynamik får kraft, fordi Havsteen-Mikkelsen lader stemningsfulde Hopper-inspirerede motiver fra storbyens randområder, der beto- kontrasterne udfolde sig inden for konkretismens rammer, idet et overgjort illusi- nede identitets- og relationsløse steder som tunneller og tankstationer. I dag er det onistisk rum spilles ind i værket, hvorved beskuerens blik fanges, men i en sådan stadig de arkitektoniske strukturer, der er det motiviske udgangspunkt i hans vær- grad, at det virker utroværdigt, og illusionen derved brydes. Det realistiske maleris ker, men hans rumlige undersøgelser har bevæget sig fra skildringen af randområ- rum, som konkretismen undsagde, er dermed til stede i værket, men uden at det der og transitrum til modernismens kanoniserede bygninger og boligen i dag. bliver opretholdt. Det bliver overdrevet igennem den formelle dynamik, og der- Hans maleriske undersøgelser omhandler de arkitektoniske rammer, vi med tvinges illusionen tilbage til sit konkrete udgangspunkt: Den blotte og bare sætter op omkring vores liv, og som er med til at bestemme vores livsudfoldelse. Det maling. Denne raffinerede dobbelthed er et generelt greb, Havsteen-Mikkelsen er derfor et gennemgående træk, at Havsteen-Mikkelsen vælger motiver, der ofte er benytter sig af i sine værker, og den udspiller sig på alle planer, kompositionsmæs- kanoniserede og normskabende arkitektoniske bygninger som Le Corbusiers Villa sigt, stilistisk og motivisk. Savoye i Paris fra 1931 eller Richard Neutras Chuey House i Californien fra 1958. I de I en række malerier benytter Havsteen-Mikkelsen endvidere denne dob- tilfælde hvor udgangspunktet ikke er kendte bygninger, fokuserer Havsteen- belthed til at skabe en stemning af ”uhjemlighed” i sine værker – et tema som han Mikkelsen på den arkitektoniske struktur og lader de modernistiske træk være bæ- har arbejdet med i tidligere solo-udstillinger som Meditations on the Uncanny og rende, så bygningen træder frem som en almen model. I sit motivvalg spiller han på Estrangement City. Begrebet stammer fra Sigmund Freuds tekst ”Das Unheimliche” en kollektiv erindring om modernismens rum, da Havsteen-Mikkelsen er interesse- fra 1919. Oversat til dansk betyder ”Das Unheimliche” ”det uhyggelige”, direkte ret i det mentale rum, bygninger er eksponenter for, og ikke det konkrete rum. oversat ”det uhjemlige”. Igennem dette flertydige begreb ønskede Freud at gøre opmærksom på, at de velkendte og fortrolige hverdagsrum, som omgiver os, har en indbygget evne til at slå om i deres modsætning. Med det mente han, at de ——— Dynamiske modsætninger strukturer og rationalitetsformer, der ligger til grund for vore handlingsmønstre, Et formelt kendetegn ved Havsteen-Mikkelsens malerier er, at de er opbygget over har en evne til at selvstændiggøre sig og dermed fremmedgøre os – brugerne – fra dynamiske modsætninger, der ikke blot findes eksternt, mellem to maleteknikker dem. I sådanne situationer bliver det hjemlige pludseligt uhjemligt, det nære eksempelvis, men også internt i de enkelte stilarter. fjernt, og det trygge faretruende. Denne ”fremmedgørelseslogik” udspiller sig i en Værket Spacey fra 2008 fremstår umiddelbart som komponeret med klare række af Havsteen-Mikkelsen malerier igennem den billedlige reduktion, den modsætninger som grundsten: På et motivisk plan sætter det sig igennem som den markante beskæring og den atmosfæriske stemning opnået igennem farvernes de- personlige bolig over for den normgivende arkitektoniske struktur, og i kompositio- realiserede valører. På et kritisk niveau bliver denne æstetiske strategi i sig selv til nen ses lys over for skygge, inde over for ude. Stilistisk forefindes konkretisme (de et udsagn om arkitektoniske strukturers evne til at producere fremmedgørelse, klart afgrænsede felter af pastos maling) over for realisme (at værket afbilder et gen- hvor de ideelt set burde skabe frihed. kendeligt rum), og modsætninger sætter sig også igennem i selve malestilen, der bå- de er klar og distinkt uden antydning af penslens arbejde, for andre steder at være let, løs og ekspressiv. ——— Aktiv brug af traditionen Men ved nærmere eftersyn er modsætningerne dynamisk indvævet i hinan- Havsteen-Mikkelsen arbejder aktivt med maleriets tradition og trækker tydelige den. Forlægget for Spacey er Le Corbusiers Villa Savoye. Motivet er et arkitektonisk veksler på de undersøgelser, som bl.a. det konkretistiske maleri har foretaget igen- ikon, der oprindeligt er skabt som privatbolig, men som aldrig kom til at fungere op- nem de seneste 60 år. Undersøgelser, hvis resultater både videreføres og samtidig timalt som sådan, da huset på flere måder var uegnet som bolig. Dette er i sig selv en udvikles i værkpraksissen, idet de understøtter og giver substans til de temaer, som dynamisk modsætning, da en modernistisk kongstanke var, at den rationelt tænkte han motivisk kredser om. Han benytter konkretismen som form, den ligger og dir- bolig skulle være bekvem og lette hverdagen, den såkaldte ”bo-maskine”. Denne rer bag hans motiver og giver komposition og rum i malerierne, men han bruger modsætning understreges af Havsteen-Mikkelsens omgang med motivet, der både også de betydninger, konkretismen bærer med sig som kunsthistorisk position. åbner for det almene og det personlige: De fleste spor af liv er destilleret bort, så mo- Konkretisterne opponerede mod et maleri og en kunst, der var båret af tivet fremstår umiddelbart rent, og kun de minimale rumskabende strukturer er 16 17 ekspressivitet, spontanitet og følgelig subjektivisme. Værker af kunstnere som Gunnar Aagaard Andersen, Albert Mertz og Richard Mortensen er karakteriseret af vindue, Barnett Newman i det andet. På den anden side leder facadens industrielle geometrisk og strukturel strenghed, og alle åbninger, der kan lede til figurative hen- strenghed, gentagelsen af ensrettede boligceller, og den serialitet bygningen frem- visninger og videre derfra til symbolske og begrebslige verdener, er lukket. I maleri- træder med, tanken hen på Gunnar Aagaard Andersens konkretisme og den efterføl- erne er den ekspressive penselføring — der er så væsentlig i CoBrA og den efterføl- gende minimalisme i 1960’erne, hvor kunstnere som Donald Judd og Robert Morris gende abstrakte ekspressionisme – bandlyst. Det er det almene, og ikke det personli- i deres skulpturer undveg et personligt kunstnerisk udtryk ved at basere deres vær- ge, der er i centrum, og dette giver sig udtryk i form såvel som i malestil. Værkerne ker på industrielt fremstillede moduler. Havsteen-Mikkelsen gør brug af stilistiske fremstår som en sluttet form, løsrevet fra iboende referencer til verden uden for træk fra to modsatrettede tendenser, konkretismens og minimalismens på den ene dem, og hermed også løsrevet fra referencer til kunstneren og hans hånd i tilblivel- side, og abstrakt ekspressionisme på den anden. Omdrejningspunktet for den ab- sesprocessen. Deres værker er eksperimenterende undersøgelser af rumdannelser. strakte ekspressionisme er selve maleakten, hvorved værket bæres af malerens per- Richard Mortensen benævnte rummet i sine værker fra den periode som ”det ægfor- sonlige aftryk. Ganske anderledes forholder det sig i de minimalistiske værker, hvor mede rum” – et rum der både gik indad og udad, opbygget via flade og streg, og som de maskinelt fremstillede moduler ikke bærer tegn på menneskelig interaktion i til- arbejdede imod et klassisk perspektivisk rum. Gunnar Aagaard Andersen tog rum- blivelsesprocessen. I Living Cells kombineres disse to radikalt forskellige kunstneri- eksperimenterne videre og organiserede sine værker ud fra principper om gentagel- ske skabelsesstrategier, det industrielt fremstillede over for det personligt bårne. se og faste strukturer, hvorved undsigelsen af subjektivismen blev yderligere kon- Vinduesruderne åbner for en individualitet i fremtrædelsen, men er alle fastlåst i det kret, og foregreb nogle af de undersøgelser, 1960’ernes minimalisme foretog. Men overordnede grid, i selve den arkitektoniske struktur. Hermed benytter Havsteen- hans værker åbner sig også over for et arkitektonisk felt, et socialt rum, og i forhold Mikkelsen de stilistiske og kompositionsmæssige planer til at kommentere det moti- til Havsteen-Mikkelsen bliver denne bevægelse interessant, fordi der her ligger en viske plan (et nyopført boligbyggeri i Ørestaden), og dermed udarbejde en raffineret forbindelse mellem maleriets rumlige eksperimenter og arkitekturens rum. kommentar til vores måde at bo og bygge på i dag, hvor det, der skulle være åbne Havsteen-Mikkelsen udbygger konkretismens undersøgelser ved at gøre dem figu- rum og planer, bliver strukturer der låser individualiteten. rative – ved at lade dem udfolde sig i et figurativt rum, der dog aldrig er ren figurati- Samme strategi træder tydeligt frem i værket The Institution, 2009, hvor det on, for rummene enten åbner sig for meget eller afviser beskueren i kraft af deres ekspressive udtryk er trængt i baggrunden og kun forefindes i få røde strøg. Maleriet materialitet, således at illusionen aldrig kan opretholdes – et greb der træder tydeligt frem i værkerne Spacey og Garage.

——— Abstraktion og realisme – et paradoks og en mulighed Dog, konkretismen er ikke den eneste spiller på banen, for Havsteen-Mikkelsen benytter sig ligeledes af et ekspressivt formsprog og de betydninger, der knytter sig hertil. Ekspressiviteten bliver et betydningsskabende element i værkerne, som et stilistisk greb, der åbner for det personlige og nære; det hurtige og løse penselstrøg overfor det skarpt afgrænsede felt, som det eksempelvis kommer til udtryk i værket Spacey. Overordnet betragtet er abstraktionen en grundsten i Havsteen-Mikkelsens malerier, hvadenten det drejer sig om konkretismens geometriske og alment bårede abstraktion (eksempelvis The Institution), eller en ekspressiv og subjektivt båret abstraktion (så som værket The Escape Button). Det træder tydeligt frem i værker som Silo, 2010, Living Cells, 2011 og Shadows in the House, 2008, men er også til stede som kompositionsprincip i værker som Garage, 2010 og Rotaprint, 2010. Denne insiste- ring på det abstraktes betydning kan umiddelbart synes som en selvmodsigelse, i og med at værkerne opererer inden for et realistisk felt med klare motiver og illusioni- stiske rum. Men det bliver klart, hvis man begriber det forhold, at hvert strøg og fi- gur har en abstrakt betydning, der rækker udover selve formen og understøtter de udsigelser, der lægges frem via motivet. Havsteen-Mikkelsens helstøbte og præg- nante værker opstår i samspillet mellem det formelt-abstrakte lag og så indarbejdel- sen af de kunst – og arkitekturhistoriske referencer i værkets helhed. I værket Living Cells bliver vinduesåbningerne i den arkitektoniske facade THe FUTURE AS A SPHERE, 2010 behandlet som malerier fra den abstrakte ekspressionisme, Mark Rothko i det ene 18 19 er domineret af geometriske figurer holdt i kølige grønne og blå nuancer og med klar adskillelse planerne imellem. På det stilistiske niveau bliver dette til en udsigel- se om det almenes forrang frem for det personlige. Den afbillede institution fremstår som skabt med almene forhold for øje, uagtet en hverdag hvor mennesker bruger og færdes i rummene, og med uvirkelige rum, der får én til at stille kritisk spørgsmåls- tegn ved måden, hvorpå institutioner i dag legitimerer sig selv. Er de til for brugerne eller for deres egen skyld? I den æstetiske strategi, Havsteen-Mikkelsen benytter, føjes stilistiske ele- menters udsigelseskraft til de temaer, motiverne og titlerne anslår, samtidig med at han strækker og ændrer grænserne for det realistiske maleri.

——— Revitalisering af realismen i maleriet Havsteen-Mikkelsen er med til at revitalisere realismen i maleriet både igennem hans brug af abstraktionen i kompositionen og hans brug af realismens fortællekraft uden at undsige dets stoflige karakter. Det er en tendens, der ses hos et bredt spek- trum af samtidige malere, så som Tal R, Kaspar Bonnén og John Kørner, og uden for en dansk sammenhæng hos malere som Luc Tuymans, Matthias Weischer, Gerhard Richter, Peter Doig, Dirk Skreber og Clara Klein, for blot at nævne nogle få. Forskelle til trods, er en fællesnævner for disse kunstnere, at de arbejder med figurationen i maleriet, samtidig med at de trækker på erfaringer fra andre me- dier og genrer som eksempelvis konceptkunsten, samt på de erfaringer der ligger indlejret i det abstrakte maleri. For en stor del af disse kunstnere er det personlige og nære rum et omdrejningspunkt. Det gør sig gældende for Tal R og Kaspar Bonnén, hvor motivernes udgangspunkt er hverdagen, dens objekter og situationer. Selvom det personlige er et væsentligt træk i Havsteen-Mikkelsens værker, så sætter dette sig ikke igennem i motivvalget. Det ligger derfor mere ligefor at opsætte referencer til kunstnere på den internationale scene som de ovenfor nævnte, hvis motiver er af mere almen karakter. Kleins mennesketomme rum er gengivet så minimalistisk, at den egentlige brug af dem ikke skinner igennem. Uden mennesker og andre rettesnore, der ind- sætter en skala i værkerne, løses de fra en bunden mening og funktion og antager en abstrakt karakter. Samme bevægelse spores i Havsteen-Mikkelsens The Institution, hvor abstraktionen er bundet op på konkretismens rumdannelser. Skreber foretager samme balancegang mellem realisme og abstraktion, som ses udfoldet hos Havsteen-Mikkelsen, men hvor det er konkretismen, der ligger som den abstrakte understrøm hos Havsteen-Mikkelsen, så er det det monokrome maleri, der danner grund i Skrebers værker. Ydermere står begge kunstnere i arv til en maler som Luc Tuymans, hvis relativt enkle motiver altid åbner for en historie af andre dimensio- ner og lader en kollektiv erindring spille med. For hos både Havsteen-Mikkelsen og Skreber er de afbillede steder og rums historier en væsentlig faktor i de fortællinger, der genereres i malerierne, og selvom det er vidt forskellige historier, der betones, så spiller de i begge tilfælde på en kollektiv erindring, som når Havsteen-Mikkelsen tager afsæt i Villa Savoye eller Skreber i Columbine High School i Colorado. Men som der er gjort rede for tidligere, så spiller det personlige på raffineret vis alligevel med i Havsteen-Mikkelsens værker, ikke i motivkredsen, der forudsætter en kollektiv THE INSTITUTION (detail/detalje), 2009 21 erindring, men på et stilistisk plan, hvor det personlige snit bliver lagt via de betydninger, der er indlejret i den abstrakt ekspressionistiske maletradition. er ægteparret, for de er underordnet møblementet, sti-anlægget, de tekniske instal- Havsteen-Mikkelsen undersøger arkitekturen, som er et felt, der per defini- lationer og huset i sig selv. De udlever en modernistisk drøm om fremtidens bolig og tion er kollektivt og socialt. Han ”modelliserer” de skildrede rum, så de fremtræder liv, men i realiseringen af drømmen tager mekanikken og systemerne over og skub- som kendte rum for os, også uden at vi konkret har været i dem. Vi kender dem, for- ber de drømmende ud på et sidespor. De bliver gjort til malplacerede statister i deres di de har skabt præcedens for en byggestil, der er fremherskende i dag. Samtidig gi- egen hverdag. ver Havsteen-Mikkelsen rummene til os på ny, fordi de er filtreret igennem maleri- I bogen The good life – A guided visit to the houses of modernity lader arkitekten ets stoflighed og rum. Værkerne danner tilsammen et slags tanke-diagram, som gi- Iñaki Ábalos ægteparret Arpels hus være repræsentant for et positivistisk tankesæt.3 ver os mulighed for at reflektere over vores rumdannelser, der altid er indlejret i kol- Fru Arpels bror, Monseiur Hulot, fungerer i denne sammenhæng som det udefra- lektive betydningsmønstre, og dermed er med til at skabe samfundets forestillinger kommende element, der viser skævheden og hullerne i systemet. Hvor filmens om sig selv. For rummene og bygningerne er ikke tomme skaller – de vil os noget, de Monsieur Hulot optræder som en parasit, hvis blotte tilstedeværelse får den positi- rummer fordringen om en bestemt livsform, et bestemt mønster for det gode liv og vistiske drøm om det perfekte liv til at slå revner, så fungerer på tilsvarende vis de det perfekte samfund. ekspressive strøg og de rent maleriske og abstrakte felter i værket Garage som de elementer, der ophæver den realistiske repræsentation. Det orange rækværk i ne- derste venstre hjørne er langt mere end et funktionelt rækværk – det består af eks- ——— Det arkitektoniske rum og det mentale rum pressive og maleriske strøg, der taler om maleakten og henviser til sig selv, løsrevet ”I virkeligheden ønskede de modernistiske arkitekter, ligesom alle deres forgængere, at få de- fra en funktion. De orange strøg fungerer umiddelbart som optegningsstreger i ma- res huse til at tale. … De ønskede, at deres huse skulle tale om fremtiden, med alle dens løfter leriet, men det er ikke kompositionen eller figurerne, de optegner. Derimod er de lø- om fart og teknologi, om demokrati og videnskab. …. Selv om de modernistiske arkitekter se og ekspressive strøg på den mørkegrønne baggrund, der ligger som en dunkel hævdede, at de havde en rent videnskabelig og fornuftsbetonet tilgang til deres arbejde, ved- malstrøm under maleriets motiv, og løsriver det fra en realistisk grund. For motivets blev deres forhold til deres profession med at være romantisk. De sørgede for, at arkitekturen realisme virker strøgene funktionsløse og bidrager dermed til realismens opløsning. understøttede en livsform, som de holdt af. Deres boligbyggerier var udtænkt som scenear- Og denne opløsning understøttes i realismen selv. Garagens store, mørke uudgrun- rangementer for aktører i et lærestykke om den moderne tilværelse.”2 delige dyb suger beskuerens blik til sig, men er på samme tid afvisende og lukket – I Lykkens arkitektur påpeger Alain de Botton, at der i visse dele af den arki- der trænger ingen former ud af mørket. Illusionen er der, men brydes ved at blive tektoniske modernisme findes en understrøm af fremskridtsoptimisme, der er et ud- opløst i billedfladens forskelligartede elementer. Garage bliver til et værk, der på én tryk for, hvordan det perfekte liv skal leves og indrettes. Dette aspekt ved modernis- gang handler om nødvendigheden af at fastholde drømmen om fremtiden, og samti- men er et omdrejningspunkt i Havsteen-Mikkelsens værker, men betragtet ud fra dig er en påmindelse om, at den fuldstændige rationalisering af vores liv rummer fa- en nutidig kontekst og med en viden om den kritik den modernistiske arkitektur har ren for, at vi ikke selv kan være til stede i det perfekte liv. været udsat for siden 60’erne. Når modernismen fascinerer Havsteen-Mikkelsen i I et værk som The Future as a Sphere fra 2011 er der klare referencer til både dag, skyldes det netop, at den tog livtag med det aspekt af arkitekturen, at den impli- oplysningstidens og modernismens idealisme, men Havsteen-Mikkelsen problema- cit rummer en fordring om en bestemt form for livsudfoldelse — en opskrift på det tiserer på sin egen måde deres fælles tro på forløsningen igennem videnskab. gode liv. Selvom motivet er inspireret af en bygning af Bernard Tschumi og Rem Koolhaas At arkitektur på denne vis antages at indvirke på mentaliteten er ikke noget fra Parc de la Villette i Paris, så refererer den sfæriske kugle i billedets midte også til nyt. Siden revolutionsarkitekternes overvejelser fra oplysningstiden har dette for- Étienne-Louis Boullées aldrig opførte monument over Newton fra 1700-tallet og til hold, om end ikke været i centrum, så spillet en betydning i skabelsen af bygnings- Richard Buckminster Fullers geodesiske kupler fra 1960’erne. Det sfæriske motiv værker. I 1700-tallets arkitektur blev tankegangen implementeret i skabelsen af of- har ikke udelukkende referencer til arkitekturhistorien, men åbner også for allusio- fentlige institutioner så som fængselsvæsenet, og i Danmark satte det sig eksempel- ner til spådomskraft og usikre udsigelser om fremtiden, og ydermere er det ikke vis igennem i nyklassicisten C.F. Hansens arresthus i København. Arresthuset blev fremtiden, kuglen giver et indblik i, men en forvrængning af nutiden — af kuglens indrettet med enkeltceller, da isolation og bøn blev anset som den indsattes vej til et umiddelbare omgivelser. Der er maleteknisk en modsætning mellem kuglen og dens moralsk liv. Mennesket blev tænkt med i bygningen, ikke som det var, men som det omgivelser: Hvor området uden for kuglen består af klart definerede og adskilte fel- skulle være. Modernismens arkitektur tog skridtet videre fra offentlige bygnings- ter, hvor de enkelte penselstrøg ikke træder frem, så er kuglen udført mere let og værker til boligens rum, stadig med den forudsætning, at arkitekturen var mere end ekspressivt, og strøg og farver glider over i hinanden for helt at forsvinde i toner af en ramme for livsudfoldelse, den var rammesættende for denne. hvidhed i kuglens øverste del. Den fremtid, værket viser, er hverken idealiseret eller Dette iscenesættes i et maleri som Garage, der som motivisk udgangspunkt struktureret, men er en forvrænget spejling af nutiden, der er ekspressiv, personlig har Jacques Tatis satiriske film Mon Oncle fra 1958. Filmen omhandler det nyrige og uvis. ægtepar Arpels hverdag, i hvad der skulle være et hus med alverdens moderne be- Det er således ikke en forblændet fascination af arkitektur, der bærer kvemmeligheder, en modernistisk perle. Men noget er galt, i den absurde og mor- Havsteen-Mikkelsens værker, det er derimod en erkendelse af, hvor vigtigt det er at somme fremstilling af parrets hverdag fremgår det, at husets virkelige beboere ikke 22 23 reflektere over de rammer, vi lever vores liv igennem. Det er rummenes sociale aspekter og den tilhørende livsverden med deres mentale rum, som han udforsker. Med maleriske midler fører han motivet tilbage til udgangspunktet, til modellen for bygningen, og skaber hermed en kritisk stillingtagen til idéen bag. Kritisk og bevidst arbejder han med de traditioner, der er indlejret i maleriets historie, til kompositi- onsmæssigt og stilistisk at problematisere det indhold, hans motiver omhandler. De stramme geometriske figurer, den ekspressive penselføring og det overgjorte per- spektiv bliver greb, der også peger ud over maleriets ramme – de bliver til udsagn om rumdannelser og udsagn om forholdet mellem det personlige og det sociale i denne bevægelse. Hans malerier er subtile undersøgelser af forholdet mellem arkitektoniske og mentale strukturer, der i udstillingens overordnede tema bliver til et forhold til fremtiden. En fremtid der begynder hjemme, når vi begynder at overveje, hvorfor vi bor, som vi gør. At det ikke er arkitekturen, der undersøger sig selv, men derimod et andet rumskabende medie, maleriet, gør undersøgelserne stærke og ved- kommende. Men de rækker videre end som så, for i maleriets undersøgelser af arkitektoniske strukturer undersøger det også sig selv, i grænsen mellem realisme og abstraktion.

Dina Vester Feilberg, mag.art. i Kunsthistorie

——— (Noter) 1. Alain de Botton (2006): Lykkens arkitektur, side 13. • 2. Ibid, side 62-63. • 3. Iñaki Ábalos (2001): The Good Life - A guided visit to the houses of modernity, side 72.

24 (previous page/forrige side) DOMINO (detail/detalje), 2010

< MODERSIAN SPACE, 2011 The Bridge, 2009 < DISCOURSE ON THE INSIDE (detail/detalje), 2010 DELIRIOUS DISASTER, 2009 White Prison, 2009 The Institution, 2009 > Real House, 2009 The Parking House, 2006 Chuey House, 2008 The Pool, 2006 >

Billboards, 2007 (next page/næste side)

< Office, 2008 HOTEL JUVENTUS, 2009 < Health House, 2008 Corridor, 2006

(next page/næste side) Mountain of Solitude, 2010

< Villa in the Exhibition, 2010 The View From Nowhere, 2010

(next page/næste side) GARAGE, 2010 GARAGE, 2010 ENJOY THE SHADOWS, ENJOY THE SUN, 2011 And then the Countryside?, 2011 > < Cosmic Energy House, 2011 HOMEMADE, 2011 THE Future as a Sphere, 2011 < PLAYHOUSE, 2011 THE ESCAPE BUTTON, 2009 ——— WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION / VÆRKER PÅ UDSTILLINGEN

Discourse on the Inside, 2010 Driveway, 2007 Domino, 2010 Enjoy the Shadows, Enjoy the Sun, 2011 Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas 135 x 100 cm. 134 x 184 cm. 135 x 100 cm. 105 x 132 cm. Private Collection Private Collection Courtesy of the Artist Courtesy of the Artist

Accumulator, 2008 And then the Countryside?, 2011 Billboards, 2007 Chamber, 2009 Garage, 2010 Health House, 2008 Homemade, 2011 Hotel Juventus, 2009 Print Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas 75 x 59 cm. 155 x 107 cm. 108 x 184 cm. 38 x 60 cm. 103 x 155 cm. 130 x 100 cm. 190 x 155 cm. 90 x 125 cm. Courtesy of the Artist Courtesy of the Artist Private Collection Private Collection Private Collection Courtesy of the Artist Courtesy of the Artist Private Collection

Chuey House, 2008 Corridor, 2006 Cosmic Energy House, 2011 Delirious Disaster, 2009 Hotel Utopia, 2007 House on a Hill, 2009 Industrial City, 2010 Into the Horizon, 2008 Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil crayon on paper Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas 105 x 184 cm. 100 x 130 cm. 105 x 78 cm. 178 x 120 cm. 42 x 60 cm. 55 x 60 cm. 80 x 55 cm. 80 x 105 cm. The Danish Art Foundation Private Collection Courtesy of the Artist Private Collection Private Collection Private Collection Courtesy of the Artist Private Collection Modersian Space, 2011 Mountain of Solitude, 2010 Office, 2008 Playhouse, 2011 The Future as a Sphere, 2011 The Institution, 2009 The Parking House, 2006 The Pool, 2006 Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas 184 x 105 cm. 40 x 65 cm. 130 x 100 cm. 85 x 55 cm. 153 x 182 cm. 130 x 100 cm. 100 x 130 cm. 130 x 100 cm. Courtesy of the Artist Private Collection Private Collection Private Collection Courtesy of the Artist Courtesy of the Artist Private Collection Collection of Claus Skovhøj Olsen

Real House, 2009 Rotaprint, 2010 Shadows in the House, 2008 Silo, 2010 The Sitting Machine, 2011 The Staircase, 2006 The View From Nowhere, 2010 Treasure Hunt, 2010 Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas 102 x 140 cm. 105 x 134 cm. 63 x 70 cm. 132 x 100 cm. 140 x 80 cm. 130 x 100 cm. 105 x 105 cm. 130 x 100 cm. Private Collection Private Collection Private Collection Private Collection Courtesy of the Artist Private Collection Courtesy of the Artist Courtesy of the Artist

Spacey, 2008 That Man will be Revolutionary who The Bridge, 2009 The Escape Button, 2009 Villa in the Exhibition, 2010 Villa in the Woods, 2008 White Prison, 2009 White Squares, Black Life, 2007 Oil on Canvas can Revolutionize Himself, 2011 Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas, 130 x 100 cm. Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Acrylic on paper Pencil on Paper 127 x 165 cm. Oil on Canvas, 134 x 184 cm. 105 x 184 cm. City of Copenhagen's 178 x 120 cm. 150 x 100 cm. 73 x 53 cm. 65 x 50 cm. Private Collection Courtesy of the Artist Collection of Mr. & Mrs. Wegter Art Collection Private Collection The Danish Art Foundation Private Collection Courtesy of the Artist ——— LIST OF WORKS illustrated ——— CV / Liste over gengivne værker

Domino, 2010 Office, 2008 Homemade, 2011 Asmund Havsteen-Mikkelsen Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas b. 1977, Aeroe, Denmark. 135 x 100 cm. 130 x 100 cm. 190 x 155 cm. www.asmundhavsteen.net Modersian Space, 2011 Hotel Juventus, 2009 Future as a Sphere, 2011 Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas ——— Education / UDDANNELSE 184 x 105 cm. 90 x 125 cm. 153 x 182 cm. 2003-09 MFA, Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen. The Bridge, 2009 Health House, 2008 Playhouse, 2011 2007-08 Hochschule für Bildende Kunst, Hamburg. Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas 2004-05 CCA Research Program, Kitakyushu, Japan. 105 x 184 cm. 130 x 100 cm. 85 x 55 cm. 1996-03 MA in literature and philosophy, University of Copenhagen.

Discourse on the Inside, 2010 Corridor, 2006 The Escape Button, 2009 ——— Solo exhibitions / SOLO UDSTILLINGER Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas 135 x 100 cm. 100 x 130 cm. 130 x 100 cm 2011 The Future Begins at Home, Rønnebæksholm, Denmark. 2010 Estrangement City, Politikens Galleri, Copenhagen. Delirious Disaster, 2009 Mountain of Solitude, 2010 Meditations on the Uncanny, Helene Nyborg Contemporary, Copenhagen. Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas 2008 Life in the Box, Helene Nyborg Contemporary, Copenhagen. 178 x 120 cm. 40 x 65 cm. 2007 Supernumeral (with Emil W. Hertz), Marstal Museum, Aeroe. 2006 Mentalscapes, Helene Nyborg Contemporary, Copenhagen. White Prison, 2009 Villa in the Exhibition, 2010 Frontal/Sideways, The Scandinavian House, Prague. Acrylic on paper Oil on Canvas 2004 Melting Barricades (with Inuk Silis Høegh), North Atlantic House, 73 x 53 cm. 178 x 120 cm. Copenhagen, and Katuaq, Nuuk, Greenland. Collapsing Structures (with Rune Søchting and Jonas Olesen), The Projectroom, The Institution, 2009 The View From Nowhere, 2010 Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen. Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas 130 x 100 cm. 105 x 105 cm. ——— Selected group exhibitions Real House, 2009 Garage, 2010 / UDVALGTE GRUPPE UDSTILLINGER Oil on Canvas Oil on Canvas 2011 Enter II, Kunsthallen Brandts, Odense, Denmark. 102 x 140 cm. 103 x 155 cm. Radical Adults II, Galerie Barbara Seiler, Zürich. Summer Salon, Helene Nyborg Contemporary, Copenhagen. The Parking House, 2006 Enjoy the Shadows, Primitive Accumulation, Fold Gallery, London. Oil on Canvas Enjoy the Sun, 2011 Uferhallen Kunstaktien, Uferhallen, Berlin. 100 x 130 cm. Oil on Canvas 3-1 Kunstauktion, Kunsten, Aalborg. 105 x 130 cm. Painterly Delight II, Ystad Konstmuseum, Sweden. Chuey House, 2008 2010 Geist III, Auguststr. 17, Berlin. Oil on Canvas And then the Countryside?, 2011 No Food No Drink No Sticky Lollies, Stadtbad Wedding, Berlin. 184 x 105 cm. Oil on Canvas Painterly Delight, Art Centre Silkeborg Bad, Denmark. 155 x 107 cm. Greetings to Ib Geertsen, Danish Graphic Center, Copenhagen. The Pool, 2006 Radical Adults, The Forgotten Bar Project, Berlin. Oil on Canvas Cosmic Energy House, 2011 CRW – Contemporary Reflections on Warfare, BKS Garage, Copenhagen. 130 x 100 cm. Oil on Canvas Copenhagen City Art Collection 2006-2009, Copenhagen. 105 x 78 cm. The Hello Show, Helene Nyborg Contemporary, Copenhagen. Billboards, 2007 Art in the Blood, Utzon Center, Aalborg. Oil on Canvas A Formal Figure, Galerie im Regierungsviertel, Berlin. 108 x 184 cm. 60 61 2009 Out of Wedding, UferHallen, Berlin. Formation, Halle 41, Berlin. Exit, Gl. Strand, Copenhagen. 2008 Jahresausstellung, HfBK, Hamburg. InnenRaum, Galerie MøllerWitt, Aarhus, Denmark. 2007 Autolabor, Brandenburgischer Kunstverein Potsdam e.V., Germany. PT07, Vestjyllands Kunstmuseum, Tistrup, Denmark. 2006 Proverbs, Portalen, Greve, Denmark. Re-thinking Nordic Colonialism, The Living Art Museum, Nifka, Reykjavik, Iceland. Contemporary Art, Spring Exhibition, Charlottenborg, Copenhagen. 2005 Total Production, Islands Brygge 83, Copenhagen. 2004 Typhoon, Maeda Studio, Kitakyushu, Japan. Minority Report, Aarhus, Denmark. 2003 Young Contemporary Art, Frederiks Bastion, Copenhagen and Inkonst, Malmø, Sweden.

——— Bibliography / BIBLIOGRAFI 2011 Dina Vester Feilberg: Subtile Undersøgelser af Rum, Kunstmagasinet Janus, June 2011 2010 Estrangement City, Politiken, October 28th, 2010. Asmund Havsteen-Mikkelsen, Information, July 24th,, 2010. Meditations on the Uncanny, catalogue, Lettre Publishing, Copenhagen, 2010. Kunsten at føle sig hjemme, radio-interview, P1 – Vita, May, 2010. 2009 Lettre International 20 Jahre Mauerfall (visual contribution), Berlin und Europa, 2009. Beyond Architecture – Imaginative buildings and fictional cities, p. 40-41. Edited by Lucas Freireiss, Gestalten Verlag, Berlin, 2009. 2008 Melting Barricades, Sleek Magazine, Berlin, December 2008. The Way We Live Now (visual contribution), Lettre Internationale, 2008. Bente Scavenius: Klinisk renset for liv (review), Børsen, August 2008. 2007 Torben Weirup: Udflugt til Blokland, Danish Art 07, Aschehoug, Copenhagen, 2007. Jesper Rasmussen: På Kant med Byens Dybder, Kunstmagasinet Janus, September 2007. The Celeste Art Prize 2007, catalogue, London, 2007. 2006 Proverbs, catalogue, Portalen, Greve, 2006. Frontal/Sideways, catalogue, The Scandinavian House, Prague, 2006. 2005 May Misfeldt: Melting Barricades, Danish Art 05, Aschehoug, Copenhagen, 2006. Intimate Absence, Patrick Huse (ed.), Delta Press, and Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Norway, 2005. CCA Research Program 2004-2005, cataloque, Kitakyushu, Japan, 2005. 2004 Melting Barricades, catalogue, North Atlantic House, Copenhagen, 2004.

——— Other Activities / ØVRIGE AKTIVITETER 2009-10 Founder of Büro für Urban Praktik with Boris Boll-Johansen.

62 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS / TAK: Our many thanks to everyone that have lent works to the exhibition. Thanks to the Danish Art Counsil and Børge Jakobsen & Søn for generous support to the exhibition, and thanks to the Beckett Foundation and Grosserer L.F.Foghts Foundation for support to the catalogue. / Tak til alle der har udlånt værker til udstillingen. Tak til Statens Kunstråds Billedkunstudvalg og Børge Jakobsen & Søn A/S for støtte til udstillingen, og tak til Beckett Fonden og Grosserer L.F. Foghts Fond for støtte til kataloget.

We also wish to thank / Vi ønsker også at takke: Ivan Andersen, Helene Nyborg Andersen, Hanna Bergman, Anders Bjerre, Boris Boll-Johansen, Claus Due, Anna Engberg-Pedersen, Søren Fahnøe, Ceci- lia Froger, Cecil Boysen Haarder, Poul Qvist Hansen, Andreas Harbsmeier, Caroline Engberg Havsteen, Johan Engberg Havsteen, Collette Havsteen-Mik- kelsen, Hvejsel Transport, Peter Fugl Jakobsen, Søren Lose, Kirstine Ersbøll Meyhoff, Karsten Wind Meyhoff, Ulrik Møller, Lea Nielsen, Troels Helmer Nielsen, Joakim Quistorff-Refn, Steffen Rayburn-Maarup, Andreas Ruby, Ilka Ruby.

This catalogue is published on the occasion of the exhibition The Future Begins at Home at Rønnebæksholm, Næstved, August 14th – October 2nd 2011. / Dette katalog er publiceret i forbindelse med udstillingen Fremtiden Begynder Hjemme på Rønnebæksholm, Næstved, 14. august – 2. oktober 2011.

Editor / Redaktør: Dina Vester Feilberg & Asmund Havsteen-Mikkelsen Copy-editor / Korrektur: Søren Fahnøe & Collette Havsteen-Mikkelsen Translation / Oversættelse: Steffen Rayburn-Maarup Design: Claus Due, Designbolaget Photographer / Fotograf: Lea Nielsen Printer / Trykkeri: Clausen Offset

© 2011 Asmund Havsteen-Mikkelsen & Rønnebæksholm No part of this catalogue may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever without written permission excerpt in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. / Brug eller kopiering af dele af dette katalog er ikke tilladt uden skriftlig tilla- delse, undtaget herfra er korte uddrag til brug i anmeldelser og kritiske artikler.

This catalogue is kindly supported by / Dette katalog er udgivet med støtte fra Grosserer L.F.Foghts Fond Beckett Fonden

ISBN: 978-87-992059-8-1

This project is supported by The Danish Arts Council / Projektet er støttet af Statens Kunstråds Billedkunstudvalg:

Main sponsor / Storsponsor: