J&K / Janne Schäfer and Kristine Agergaard
The Perfect Stage
Mixed media installation, variable size
2010
J&K, The Perfect Stage, Developing The Characters, animation still, 2010, photo: J&K
In one overall installation J&K present a large abstract mountain landscape constructed as a 400 sqm walk through collage of images, sculptures, found objects, textiles, stage architecture, video, sound and light. The central theme of the exhibition is the stage as a place for dramatization, where reality can be constructed and tested. The journey to the top of the mountain represents the artists’ utopian goal of reaching the impossible: to find the perfect place or state of being – the path however is filled with obstacles, detours, illusions and surprises. J&K have invented and incarnated characters that in different ways symbolize the quest for perfection and feature throughout the installation. Some of the characters and the stage have been used as a film set for J&K’s short film Purgatory and as the setting for the performance Descending The Holy Mountain.
The work was shown as a major solo show at Aarhus Art Building in the summer of 2010.
In the context of the show the publication The Perfect Stage was released with texts by Karin Hindsbo, Neal Brown, Maya Ilsøe and J&K, designed by Lasse Krog Møller.
Download pdf publication.
J&K, The Perfect Stage, detail: Relay Series (Maps), works on paper, 2010, photo: Jens Møller Sørensen
J&K, The Perfect Stage, detail: Field with Scare Crow and Nettle Garden, sculpture /
installation, 2010, photo: Jens Møller Sørensen
J&K, The Perfect Stage, detail: Nomad Camp and Field, sculpture / installation, 2010,
photo Jens Møller Sørensen
J&K, The Perfect Stage, installation detail, 2010, photo: Jens Møller Sørensen
J&K, The Perfect Stage, detail: The Fame and Glory Trap, installation, 2010, photo: Jens Møller Sørensen
J&K, The Perfect Stage, detail: Dancing Tipi, sculpture, 2010, photo: Fritz Stolberg
J&K, The Perfect Stage, installation detail, Dancing Tipi and Base Camp, sculpture /
installation, 2010, photo: Jens Møller Sørensen
J&K, The Perfect Stage, installation detail, 2010, photo: Jens Møller Sørensen
J&K, The Perfect Stage, detail: Dream Catcher and Fallen Rocks, sculptures, 2010, photo: Jens Møller Sørensen
J&K, The Perfect Stage, detail: Fallen Rocks, sculpture, 2010, photo: Jens Møller Sørensen
J&K, The Perfect Stage, installation detail, 2010, photo: Jens Møller Sørensen
J&K, The Perfect Stage, detail: Alchemical Kitchen, installation, 2010, photo: Jens Møller Sørensen
J&K, The Perfect Stage, detail: Alchemical Kitchen, installation, 2010, photo: Jens Møller Sørensen
J&K, The Perfect Stage, installation detail, Base Camp, installation, 2010, photo: Fritz Stolberg
J&K, The Perfect Stage, installation detail with Horizontal Sunset, wall painting, 2010,
photo: Jens Møller Sørensen
J&K, The Perfect Stage, detail: Evoking Perfection through Intoxication / Evoking
Perfection through Detoxication, video diptych, Horizontal Sunset, wall painting, 2010,
photo: Jens Møller Sørensen
J&K, The Perfect Stage, detail: The North Face, installation, 2010, photo: Jens Møller Sørensen