Architecture of Skagen - Before and Now

Skagen, the northernmost point of Denmark

was the land of a timeless void,

full of fluxional silver sand hovering in the air,

with the wind they clashed and sanded down

the corners of roofs and uncovered skins.

Juhee and I participated in a 1 week residency to create an exhibition

about the architecture of the town Skagen with fellow 6 artists,

which would be shown to the public between April and October

at the Skagen Odde Nature Centre, the building designed by Jørn Utzon.

Working with Foldens Hotel and Kappelborg (/Borgerskolen),

we focused on the human interactions and constant flux that have been taking place within the two sites: the hotel being a meeting point for young people in various social events in the 60s; the former school re-opening as a cultural hub for locals in 2011. Also reflecting the parallels with the dominant theme of transformation in Skagen over the past century, we decided to create a space in which temporary communities would be formed, demolished, and re-created.

Both of us were literally ecstatic during this experience, with so much amount of input in relation to the pressure of time to create the output: a space given for installation with freedom and limitation, a lot of rich information coming from excursions to sharing of personal archives and memories, and the geological factors, etc.

We witnessed the transitions that had taken in the past, and in the present. The transformations were slow to be detected with our naked eyes compared to norm phenomenons we come across everyday, however they were super fast regarding that it was a phenomenon of population, architecture, and landscapes.

As a result of all that and extra (e.g. constant consumption of pseudo-Danish breakfast and lunch, basic and heavy dinner, cycling against the wind of 22m/h, hunting for buoys and ropes, talking to fishing industry men), we produced few meaningless but productive, repetitive movements, a fishy scent inside the Odde Nature Centre, and with the help from the other 6 artists - whom were better time managers - barely managed to finish our installation, Node/Knudepunkt.