Joakim Blattmann – Treverk (13)

Dates: 15.11 – 15.12.19
Location: Atelier Nord, Olaf Ryes plass 2 (inngang Sofienberggata)
Opening hours: Thursday and Friday 15 – 18, Saturday and Sunday 13 – 18

Please join us for the opening of Treverk (13) on Thursday 14th of November from 19:00.

With the help of sensors, cables, a computer and contact speakers Joakim Blattmann’s installation series Treverk makes the sound of small movements within trees available to the human ear.

At Atelier Nord Treverk enters its thirteenth iteration. When the maple tree in Atelier Nord’s backyard was trimmed during the summer of 2019 with the intent to stop rot from spreading, Blattmann decided to keep the parts of the tree that were removed. Blattmann has made several audio recordings of the tree in Atelier Nord’s backyard in the last year – of clicking, scraping and knocking sounds caused by torsion within the trunk, changes in moisture levels inside the tree and insects living under the bark. These recordings are played back through contact speakers placed on the logs that Blattmann has collected and placed in the gallery. Recordings are selected by a computer that interprets the electrical conductivity within each log using sensors.

Sensors connected to the maple tree in the backyard communicate with the installation in the gallery via cables, thereby allowing the tree to affect the soundscape inside the the space. The rhythm of tree is irregular – affected by temperature, moisture and microorganisms. The world of the tree exists beyond everyday human experience but is constantly affect by human activities.

Joakim Blattmann earned his MFA from the Art Academy in Trondheim and lives and works in Oslo. Recent exhibitions include Treverk (12), Bærum Kunsthall; Treverk (11), Ekebergparken; Østlandsutstillingen 2019 and Høstutstillingen 2018. Blattmann is also a musician and released the album Bird Helmet on the label Dinzu Artefacts earlier this year. Together with Ricardo del Pozo he curated the performance and concert programme Spaces Speak (2015 – 2017) at Gallery Ram in Oslo.

Treverk (13) is accompanied by Atelier Nord Files 3. The publication will be available in the exhibition and includes an essay on Blattmann’s Treverk-series by architecture and design historian Ingrid Halland.

The exhibition is supported by The Regional Project Fund for Visual Art. Thanks to Greger Stolt Nilsen and Ricardo del Pozo for technical support.