UPHEAVAL

scenario

This webpage is the home of an art project by visual artist Kerstin Bergendal.

The artist will add a new artwork to Götaplatsen—a very large square in the heart of Gothenburg (SE). This is a public commission from the City of Gothenburg in 2024.

The physical addition will be elaborated through an extended durational and public dialogue, exploring different aspects of the site from 2024 to 2028.

This website will let you to follow this gradually growing exploration:To the right, you’ll find two rows of images. Click on any image to open it and read a short text by the artist about what you see.

The top row shows fragments from archives, books, and research.
The bottom row follows the artist as she moves through the city—including short videos about people she has met along the way.

UPHEAVAL

scenario

This webpage is the home of an art project by visual artist Kerstin Bergendal.

The artist will add a new artwork to Götaplatsen—a very large square in the heart of Gothenburg (SE). This is a public commission from the City of Gothenburg in 2024.

The physical addition will be elaborated through an extended durational and public dialogue, exploring different aspects of the site from 2024 to 2028.

The top row shows fragments from archives, books, and research.
The bottom row follows the artist as she moves through the city—including short videos about people she has met along the way.

TERRITORY FOR EXCEPTIONS

It's so quiet here, this Thursday in February. More people pass by in front of The Square, than walk across it.

Who really feels at home here?

I ask around, here and there. And from what I hear, the Place is something entirely different from the frozen stillness of this Thursday afternoon. It is “the city’s parlour” – a space where things happen - parties, concerts, competitions, graduation celebrations and carnivals. Not to mention the demonstrations. This is where voice disagreement.

And apparently, it also works as the framework for the type of micro-social actions that are taking place right now, right in front of me, this Thursday at four o'clock:

A man, dressed in a full-body tiger costume including a long tail and cat-like ears, comes trudging up to the fountain. Behind him follows a group of young men. Behind him follows a group of young men – somewhat weary. They carry bags, from which they take out bottles and glasses, placing them on the fountain’s edge.

Poseidon, used as a kind of bar: there is, after all, nothing else in this huge space that encourages this kind of use. And yet it happens – almost in defiance of the monumental scale of the Place.

Maybe simply because the Place is perceived as a zone of exception?