Cosmic Existence

Mille Kalsmoses new work Cosmic Family consists of rows of flat abstract iron figures of different height and shape, each of which surrounds transparent materials such as silk and pigskin. With their different size, they resemble members of a family. They stand in circles over curved metal pieces and curved wooden frames, as if they were orbiting a planet - or Saturn's rings. In the middle of the work, a circular speaker emits sounds from the radio and plasma waves recorded by NASA's Cassini spacecraft close to Saturn between 2002 and 2017. The tiny meteor stones that dot the curved metal pieces enhance the cosmic connection. 

The choice of materials in the Cosmic Family is a natural extension of Mille Kalsmose's other works. Typically, she combines materials with opposite qualities, such as brass with paper, or iron with silk, creating a sensual tension that reflects the more personal and sensitive themes that are also in her works. The interaction between the materials is always closely matched in a sound-free interaction. Just as in her artistic work she manages to interweave the intuitive with the scientific, so that new poetic wholes emerge.

About Cosmic Existence. Unexpected Encounters – Possible Futures

The contemporary art exhibition Cosmic Existence explores human existence in a cosmic perspective. What happens when we dissolve concepts like body and time? And no longer view death as an inevitable reality? The cosmic perspective opens up for us to go beyond how we normally understand things.

The works on the exhibition touch upon existential concepts such as consciousness, spirituality, technology, nature, cosmos, utopias, mythologies, life, death, society and infinity. The exhibition's philosophical point of departure stems from Russian cosmism, which is a kind of avant-garde thinking in the borderland between art, mysticism, science and prophecy. Its outlook is also closely linked to the science fiction genre and its tradition of unbridled speculative notions. Science fiction creates its own worlds and has an ability to think in alternatives where other rules apply. By combining contemporary art and science fiction, the exhibition unfolds alternative scenarios that allow visitors to "reinvent" the world.

Other participating artists:

Astrid Myntekjær, Ann Lislegaard, Asbjørn Skou, Arthur Virtmanis, Center for Militant Futurologi, Ferdinand Ahm Kragh, Georg Jagunov, Honey Biba Beckerlee, Ivan Perard, Jakob Kudsk Steensen, Kristaps Epners, Lea Porsager, Leva Balode, Marie Kølbek Iversen,Sif Itona Westerberg og Virtor Timofeev.