Magnus Thierfelder

When objects become images and are deprived of their function, the image of that function appears much more clearly – as in Magnus Thierfelder’s work Utan titel (paus) (Untitled [pause]). A group of lamps has been set out, unlit, on the floor. The lamps droop markedly – like human beings with lowered heads. They seem to be tired of always doing what is expected. Like a silent protest against everything always being expected to fulfil a function.

It could be said that it is function that is being paused in Thierfelder’s works. The focus is shifted instead to the objects. Frequently the systems that keep everyday life in check have been inactivated. A few plastic plants leave their pots and press their leaves against the ceiling. And frequently it is with the surrounding space that the works conduct a dialogue that is both literal and metaphorical. A crack in the floor, a water-pipe that has sprung a leak. Something unwelcome in one context becomes a welcome visitor in another. When the title turns into Fountain the meanings shift and the function becomes expected.

Thierfelder’s subjects, his themes, live right next to us in our daily lives, so close that we normally do not notice them. They can be found in homes and public spaces, in places of work, in newspapers and films. They get shifted in scale into ingenious sculptures and installations. A tornado has been blown up from a square box in a comic to fill an entire room. And there we are with our heads between our knees and our tongues touching the floor.

Magnus Thierfelder

Born 1976 in Glumslöv. Lives and works in Malmö.

Education

1996–2001
Malmö Art Academy, Malmö

Selected solo exhibitions

2005
Skånes Konstförening, Malmö

2005
Elastic, Malmö

2004
Galleri Mors Mössa, Gothenburg

Selected group exhibitions

2005
KHM 10th Anniversary, Rooseum, Malmö

2005
Lost in translation, HAU, Athens [GR]

2004
From Nowhere To Somewhere Without Return: the Knowledge, Coleman Projects, London [GB]

Selected bibliography

Fred Andersson, Svenska Dagbladet, 2005-10-03.

Johan Svensson, Skånes Konstförening, 2005.

Rebecca Geldard Time Out London, 2004-11-24.

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