Heat/Energy
Heat / Energy was a group exhibition presented at Kummelholmen in Stockholm in 2021, originating from the site’s history as a former power plant.
EXHIBITING ARTISTS , Lydia Belevich, Sweden, Malin Arnedotter Bengtsson, Sweden/Norway, Sarah Blood, US, Sarali Borg, Sweden, Mia Chaplin, South Africa, Cecilia Edefalk, Sweden, Anna Engver, Sweden, Leif Elggren, Sweden, Olivia Pettersson Fleur, Sweden, Sofie Winthe Foge, Sweden/Denmark, Daniela Hedman, Sweden, Torbjörn Johansson, Sweden, Berit Lindfeldt, Sweden, Tilda Lovell, Sweden, Monique Pelsér, South Africa, Javier Alvarez Sagredo, Sweden/Denmark, Marja-leena Sillanpää, Sweden,Alex Mahmoud Valijani, Sweden, Elle van Uden, Australia, Jonas Vansteenkiste, Belgium, Ulla Wiggen, Sweden, Sofia Zwahlen, Sweden, Martin Ålund, Sweden.
CURATORS, Jonas Ellerström, Torbjörn Johansson, Martin Ålund.
The theme Heat/Energy emanates from the former power plant of Kummelholmen in the form of location, architecture, function and history as well as in terms of how art, culture, society and ecology are intimately linked and necessary prerequisites for a warm humanity.
Artists of varying ages and with different experiences from large parts of the world meet in the exhibition Heat/Energy at Kummelholmen, on the outskirts of Stockholm, Sweden, 2021. The project originates with international artist collective GoGo. GoGo meet in various places for new site-specific processes and collaborations.
Heat/Energy
For humans, the mammal with no fur, there are three factors that are necessary for survival: energy, water and heat. Without nourishment, our body stops functioning, without water it dries out, without heat we freeze to death. We are a vulnerable species of animal. Despite this, we have, for better or worse, come to dominate the planet. One explanation is that this is due to our functional thumbs, another points to our brain capacity as the decisive factor. It is undeniable that our ability to communicate, collaborate, and create efficient societies distinguishes us (along with ants and other social beings). Many claim that our strong tendency to create non-materialistic values, such as religious communities, literature, and artistic traditions, is yet another factor that has been crucial to our family history.
Energy, water, and heat. These three things stood at the center of Kummelholmen's operations until 1997, when the building was decommissioned as an oil-fueled boiler plant providing hot water and energy to the surrounding suburb of Vårberg. Now, after being back in use since 2013, the architecturally powerful and listed cement box has become a center for less tangible, but hardly less significant processes: the plant has been transformed into an art venue where no exhibited artwork can avoid entering into dialogue with the surroundings, and where the space itself becomes a natural part of the respective practices of the artists and curators, and not least the experience of the visitors.
As the theme of the exhibition, we have chosen heat and energy, notions central to both the building itself and human existence. Herein lies a challenge to the artists involved to think anew and reformulate both the distinctive character and history of the premises, as well as to take the colossal approach of reflecting on the role that culture plays in our contemporary age. Here the opportunity arises to incorporate both the history of technology and architecture, to take on issues of sustainability, resources and ecology, and not least, to discuss, in an artistic format, both aesthetic as well as social and philosophical issues. Heat/Energy: art in an interplay with environment, the contemporary in dialogue with modernism, immaterial artistic values in contrast to a hardening and increasingly utility-based and money-driven social climate.
Jonas Ellerström
Photo Martin Ålund