2021-12-25 FOCUS ON | Kirsten Otzen Keck

We are pleased to welcome Kirsten Otzen Keck in Malmö Fotobiennal 2021.

Kirsten Otzen Keck photo series “The Mobile Forum” use flat two-dimensional prints and 3D model spaces in an attempt to talk about the utopian. What’s in-between images of images and real objects?

Det Mobile Forum:

“Starting Point 2015” is a free-standing sculpture with a screen, on which a series of photo collages, based on own photos, are projected, primarily from Athens. The audio side is recordings of conversations with tourists.
3 narrative tracks with groups of ancient statues, journalists and tourists’ conversations are crossed in a visual and auditory collage, where sender and receiver relations are mixed. “Silent” journalists are seen busy reporting in the spotlight, antique portrait statues look directly into the camera to the sound of tourists’ searching conversation about what a place they have come to and how much they understand.

In the work, I use my photos from election night, January 25, 2015 in Athens. Here, in addition to reports, one sees the world press’ massive supply of “scenographies” in the form of scenes, floodlights, cameras and cranes. In addition, there are own photos of the restoration work of the ancient sites and of the numerous demonstrations in the city.
All three can be connected with the will to be part of the story; to restore and rebuild, to keep society alive and well, based on different, and – perhaps utopian – notions of what a good society can be.

Kirsten work is characterized by a varied use of materials and media.

In collages, rotoscoped video, animation, text, conversations, sculpture and installation, Kirsten Otzen Keck processes found images as well as her own recordings for new contexts. She often chooses a character that is superior to a pictorial world, and is concerned with how the individual connects his world to society’s larger narratives, history, body, and gender.