1st Copenhagen Ultracontemporary Biennale 2017
Copenhagen Ultracontemporary Biennale focuses on artistic capacity to express in closest possible proximity to “the now” and on the artistic duty to spot dysfunctions in society, in order to act upon them before it is too late.
Copenhagen Ultracontemporary Biennale will invite Danish and international artists who have a burning need to produce works that relate to what is happening in the world at the moment or what will happen if we don’t act now. EMERGENCY ART is art that deals with issues that cannot wait with being expressed, because tomorrow might be too late. It could be topics such as actual wars, critical climatic conditions, political changes and other factors and events that require public attention.
Art’s relevance is a key criterion when artists’ pertinent works have to see the light of day. Pertinence as a criterion lifts the artworks above the aesthetic relationship between its form and message because the works primate will be evaluated in relation to the surrounding reality that goes beyond the sphere of art.
Artworks are produced and exhibited on the very same day, which means the biennale is in daily transformation and renewal.
These daily activities will take place during a period of 20 days on following three interconnected platforms:
Platform 1
The established and existing exhibition spaces in Copenhagen will daily host changing exhibitions, where artists will be able to display works created on the same day as they are created. The daily curating during the biennale will give the institutions the opportunity to welcome the audience to a new exhibition, every day. A very large number of works will be shown, and the daily work replacement, will create a unique dynamic exhibition that will attract both an audience as well as the press.
Platform 2
Copenhagen Ultracontemporary Biennale will also use the public space and activate the many alternative urban spaces as well as buildings that are not normally used for art. This will draw focus on art’s potential to also act outside the institutional framework. It will create artistic interventions, which can bring art closer to citizens in the form of surprising and eye-opening encounters.
Platform 3
Media platforms will not only be used as channels of communication, but also as active distribution platforms, which include a critical art spot in daily news before the weather forecast. During Copenhagen Ultracontemporary Biennale we will be able to experience how art can become an inseparable part of a news broadcasting interface.
The above-mentioned platforms will be interconnected in an agora-like meeting point for art and debate.Copenhagen Ultracontemporary Biennale focuses thus on the now as a moment of encounter; A moment where the artist meets other artists, the artwork meets the audience and the art world meets the world outside the art zone. To create a rendezvous means to share same place, same time and eventually common worries. This creates a possibility of interaction.
The encounter demands real presence. An ultracontemporary artist would have to be present in all sense of the word; physically, mentally and in time. Artists’ sensibility towards the surrounding world and often intuitive avant-garde registrations, make it possible to have and express immediate opinions and visions, which can be very valuable as guidelines for future developments.
The artists’ presence makes it possible to react on a trained reflex. Copenhagen Ultracontemporary Biennale focuses on artists’ capacity to catch the ball and send it back. This reflex way of working as an artist is not only about the speed but a well-trained sense of timing. The fact that the artworks are done fast, does not mean that they are superficial; on the contrary they have a high degree of pertinence and precision because of its closeness to the moment of now.
Image Courtesy Copenhagen Ultracontemporary Biennale.