Odd weeks: Charlotte Gyllenhammar

In her Odd Weeks, Charlotte Gyllenhammar has used a TV newscast about a kidnapping drama. To deprive someone of their freedom is a very violent deed, and, as we know, the phenomenon of taking hostages only works in a system with mass media coverage; one of the most effective weapons today. Charlotte Gyllenhammar focuses on the tension between the realities of the inner and outer spheres. Ultimately, it is about vulnerability and the power of the image over thought.

Many of Charlotte Gyllenhammar’s installations revolve around seeing and the moving image. Film mirrors history, film is a story of time gone by which is projected onto a surface. In Gyllenhammar’s world, the film sequences form planes of meaning in the room. Sometimes as horizontal surfaces, as ceilings and floors, sometimes as a cross-section dividing the room. It’s like a wink to the Russian suprematist Kasimir Malevich and his ideas on abstract art. The viewer moves inside, outside and through these planes, surfaces and rooms.

Cecilia Widenheim