John Skoog
»Walls«

»Walls« (2015)

Reduit (Redoubt) 2014, the film with which the artist won the prestigious Baloise Art Prize, tells of the relationship between a personal fate and a historical situation, and between the broad scope of landscape and existential angst. It is based on the true story of a farmer who used metal scrap to transform his straw hut into a fortress in response to a warning concerning the possibility of a Soviet invasion issued by the Swedish government during the Cold War.

Composed of bulky, successive layers of concrete and wooden beams over a straw hut frame and replete with all kinds of readymade materials and refuse such as bicycle parts and bed frames salvaged and repurposed, the construction was meant as a community refuge from a looming Soviet invasion. Now, in weathered condition, it stands as a monument, as a tourist attraction and monolithic eyesore.

To produce his edition Walls, consisting of eleven unique pieces, Skoog and his brothers tried to document the various walls of the bunker in a cloak-and-dagger operation. Initial attempts to photograph the walls did not meet Skoog's ideas. Using a simple handscanner they scanned strip by strip the walls and laid the inclusions freely in the concrete.

About John Skoog

In his photographic, film and video works John Skoog (*1985 in Kvidinge, Sweden) combines historical and everyday historical research with a poetic and fictional atmosphere that is grounded in the cinematic and literary tradition of Scandinavian modernism. At Art Basel, he was awarded the prestigious Baloise Art Prize for his video Reduit (Redoubt) in 2014. From 2007 to 2012, he studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts, Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main, 2010 at the Malmö Art Academy from 2005 to 2006, the Academy of Photography, University of Gothenburg. John Skoog lives and works in Frankfurt am Main and Maglaby, Sweden.

Links
Johan Berggren Gallery, Malmö
Pilar Corrias Gallery, London

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Books we like

VÄRN
Publisher: MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main, MUMOK Museum Moderner Kunst, Stiftung Ludwig Wien
Preface: Susanne Gaensheimer, Karola Kraus
Texts: Klaus Görner, Rainer Fuchs, Anne Carson, Andréa Picard, Amalia Smith
Details: Paperback, 208 pages, 60 pictures in color, texts in German and English
ISBN 978-3-903004-27-6
25 Euro

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