Kristoffer Myskja

Dates: 12.05–11.06.23
Opening Hours: Thursday and Friday 15-18, Saturday and Sunday 12-17
Location: Atelier Nord, Olaf Ryes plass 2 (inngang. Sofienberggata)

In Kristoffer Myskja’s exhibition Failures in Automation pink latex pigs move from assembly line to assembly line, as part of an advanced production and evaluation process. On the first stop of their journey, the pigs are squeezed by a robotic arm, which test that their grunt is functioning correctly. All pigs that pass the test receive a small turquoise hat, placed on their heads. These hats are cast in a machine operated by another robotic arm. Visitors can purchase a «Grunty Pig with Hat» by using the installation’s automated kiosk solution and associated card terminal.

Grunty Pig with Hat is designed to «cheer you up with its quality controlled naturalistic grunting sound when you squeeze it» according to marketing feeds that are continuously printed and fed to the public. Like most artworks, Grunty Pig with Hat has no clear utility beyond how it affects our moods and emotions. Myskja is interested in the deleuge of goods that at any given time circulate in the world. Even seemingly simple products have their origins in complex, globe-spanning production processes that are often invisible to us, consumers. Is the resulting flood of things for our enjoyment, or are we also just nodes in this incalculable machinery?

Kristoffer Myskja lives and works in Oslo. He was educated at the Art Academy in Trondheim and the National Academy of Fine Arts, Oslo. Myskja works with mechanical sculpture and installations that address issues related to technology as well as systems in flux and forces that affect each other. His work has been shown at Kunsthall Grenland, Porsgrunn (2021), POST gallery, Kaunas, Lithuania (2019), SPACE, Pittsburg, PA, USA (2018), Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium (2018), Galleri BOA (2017), Museum Tinguely, Basel (2015). 

The exhibition is supported by Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond.