Just, Jesper (DK)
Nikolaj CCAC
Jesper Just
Born in 1974 in Copenhagen, Denmark
Lives in Copenhagen and New York
In collaboration with Nikolaj Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, U-TURN presents two new video installations: the installation Romantic Delusions created specifically for the exhibition, and three thematically connected films from 2008 - A Voyage in Dwelling, A Room of One's Own and A Question of Silence - all of which are here presented for the first time in Denmark. Furthermore, the exhibition features the work No Man Is an Island (2002).
Romantic Delusions (2008)
The total installation Romantic Delusions questions the notion of community in the new Europe. Through a portrayal of the intimate and conflict-ridden humans relations in the Romanian capital Bucharest and the port of Constanza, Just examines the idea of a happy European community.
The protagonist in the narration is a hermaphrodite. Even if it is not obvious straight away, you cannot help but notice that she/he has distinctly feminine as well as distinctly masculine features. Furthermore, this person finds it hard to fit in - and seems lonely and isolated in his or her lack of a place to belong. This sense of alienation is further emphasised by the setting of the film - the architecture in Bucharest with its baroque palaces, communist concrete buildings and the cheap glass skyscrapers of capitalism that testify to the clash between Romania's older and newer history and the torrential transformation into a democratic, neo-liberal society that the country is undergoing today. Because of its kitschy fusion of the architectonic expressions, Bucharest is sometimes referred to as a post-communist Disneyland.
In Just's work these architectonic contrasts reflect the condition and inner conflicts of the protagonist. In this light, the hermaphrodite is not merely emblematic of the clash between male and female, but also the clash between two different ideologies - communism and capitalism.
The expansion of the EU towards the East has made it necessary to view Europe
through a wide-angle lens in order to include all nationalities in the picture. The
question remains, however, whether it is possible to speak of equal relations
powers. Are we even sure that we are supposed to look for an all-inclusive cultural community of common values? Here, Just presents these notions as romantic delusions, symbolized by the suffering of the protagonist In Romantic Delusions, Just adds a political and historical dimension to his art.
The idea of a meeting devoid of conflict and problems is here portrayed, not just as a romantic short-circuit, but actually also as an exceptional mutation and as a
symptom of the paranoid and megalomaniac tendencies in the struggle for world
domination, notably on the part of the Western world. Presumably, however, the
former Eastern and Western Europe now comprise so many elements of each other, that - as far as ideology is concerned - we really must consider them both to be hermaphrodites, so to speak. Indeed, the negotiation of the great Pan-European marriage may have a few more surprises in store for us.
A Voyage in Dwelling, A Room of One's Own and A Question of Silence (2008)
The three films that are shown in the Upper Gallery at Nikolaj Copenhagen
Contemporary Art Center are about a middle-aged woman and her internal and
external journey through the unfolding of her desire; how she derives pleasure as well as anxiety from her own development. The films depict a movement from one psychological level to another, from one place to another. The main character is played by the Danish actress Benedicte Hansen.
A Voyage in Dwelling
A woman makes her way through a thicket down to the water wearing a long dress and high heels. She walks into the water that comes up to her ankles. The tide is suddenly sucked back. The woman is now all alone on a deserted island. She walks up to a house and enters. As she leans playfully against the walls of the house, they are transformed into the interior of a ferry.
She walks down through the long, empty passageways of the ferry with a facial
expression that contains expectancy as well as anxiety. The interior of the ferry
becomes a symbol of her own emotional space - somewhat heavy, but forever
moving. The engine of the ferry sounds like an echo of her own pounding heart.
Perhaps she is about to reach some kind of clarity - maybe she is on the verge of
finding something she has missed for a long time. Journey, freedom, drive.
A Room of One's Own
In an elegantly furnished room on the ferry we find the main character again, the
beautiful middle-aged woman whose toned down beige clothes almost merge into the discrete interior of the room. She walks around carefully studying the room and finds a painting on the wall. It depicts a map, more specifically a 'Carte de Tendre', a map of the emotions made in 18th century France. In a Carte de Tendre cities are named after emotions. Here, the capitals are named for instance Tendre-sur- Estime (Affection by Esteem). There is also an ocean called La Mer Dangereuse (The Dangerous Sea).
Having studied the emotions on the map, she goes on to live out her own feelingsin a love scene in which she is seduced by a young man. This scene unfolds partly under water, partly in one of the cabins of the ferry. It is at once daydream and reality. She seems happy. Finally, the main character rises up to the surface of the water, relieved, panting and revived - as if she had held her breath, and restrained herself, for ever and ever.
A Question of Silence
The woman is sitting with her husband in a luxuriously furnished transit lounge.
Hesitatingly, the husband puts his arm around her, while she absent-mindedly digs her fingers into her thigh. Under the table in front of them, a doll begins to sing: "There must be something wrong. For love's not choking on her song." But only the woman hears it.
The doll, singing in a slightly melancholy tone of voice, looks like a woman, but a set of rough sideburns are concealed under its long hair. Gradually the main character becomes more and more absorbed by the song and perhaps by the possibility of harbouring emotions and desires that point in several different directions at the same time. The woman now seems almost cheerful and relieved while she sings along with doll.
No Man Is an Island (2002)
One of Just's early films, No Man Is an Island, is shown in the tower at Nikolaj
Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center. The title refers to an 18th century English
proverb pointing out that human beings cannot exist on their own. In the film, we see a middle-aged man waltzing across one of Copenhagen's open spaces, the Blĺgĺrd Square. He flings out his arms and spins around. This scenario, accompanied by soft and carefree jazz music, seems self-ironic and unreal. People on the street - children, young people and elderly - automatically become an audience following the dancer. Meanwhile, a young guy is sitting by himself crying on a bench. The film concerns this contrast - between one person's loneliness and the sense of community on the square where the man's high-spirited dance apparently rubs off on those present. As viewer, you develop a need to see a third person, acting somewhere in between the two others - emotionally as well as socially. As opposed to the other films by Jesper Just included in the exhibition, No Man Is an Island is not about a person who
goes through a development. It is rather about the limited possibilities for masculine expressivity. -SHO
Lives in Copenhagen and New York
In collaboration with Nikolaj Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, U-TURN presents two new video installations: the installation Romantic Delusions created specifically for the exhibition, and three thematically connected films from 2008 - A Voyage in Dwelling, A Room of One's Own and A Question of Silence - all of which are here presented for the first time in Denmark. Furthermore, the exhibition features the work No Man Is an Island (2002).
Romantic Delusions (2008)
The total installation Romantic Delusions questions the notion of community in the new Europe. Through a portrayal of the intimate and conflict-ridden humans relations in the Romanian capital Bucharest and the port of Constanza, Just examines the idea of a happy European community.
The protagonist in the narration is a hermaphrodite. Even if it is not obvious straight away, you cannot help but notice that she/he has distinctly feminine as well as distinctly masculine features. Furthermore, this person finds it hard to fit in - and seems lonely and isolated in his or her lack of a place to belong. This sense of alienation is further emphasised by the setting of the film - the architecture in Bucharest with its baroque palaces, communist concrete buildings and the cheap glass skyscrapers of capitalism that testify to the clash between Romania's older and newer history and the torrential transformation into a democratic, neo-liberal society that the country is undergoing today. Because of its kitschy fusion of the architectonic expressions, Bucharest is sometimes referred to as a post-communist Disneyland.
In Just's work these architectonic contrasts reflect the condition and inner conflicts of the protagonist. In this light, the hermaphrodite is not merely emblematic of the clash between male and female, but also the clash between two different ideologies - communism and capitalism.
The expansion of the EU towards the East has made it necessary to view Europe
through a wide-angle lens in order to include all nationalities in the picture. The
question remains, however, whether it is possible to speak of equal relations
powers. Are we even sure that we are supposed to look for an all-inclusive cultural community of common values? Here, Just presents these notions as romantic delusions, symbolized by the suffering of the protagonist In Romantic Delusions, Just adds a political and historical dimension to his art.
The idea of a meeting devoid of conflict and problems is here portrayed, not just as a romantic short-circuit, but actually also as an exceptional mutation and as a
symptom of the paranoid and megalomaniac tendencies in the struggle for world
domination, notably on the part of the Western world. Presumably, however, the
former Eastern and Western Europe now comprise so many elements of each other, that - as far as ideology is concerned - we really must consider them both to be hermaphrodites, so to speak. Indeed, the negotiation of the great Pan-European marriage may have a few more surprises in store for us.
A Voyage in Dwelling, A Room of One's Own and A Question of Silence (2008)
The three films that are shown in the Upper Gallery at Nikolaj Copenhagen
Contemporary Art Center are about a middle-aged woman and her internal and
external journey through the unfolding of her desire; how she derives pleasure as well as anxiety from her own development. The films depict a movement from one psychological level to another, from one place to another. The main character is played by the Danish actress Benedicte Hansen.
A Voyage in Dwelling
A woman makes her way through a thicket down to the water wearing a long dress and high heels. She walks into the water that comes up to her ankles. The tide is suddenly sucked back. The woman is now all alone on a deserted island. She walks up to a house and enters. As she leans playfully against the walls of the house, they are transformed into the interior of a ferry.
She walks down through the long, empty passageways of the ferry with a facial
expression that contains expectancy as well as anxiety. The interior of the ferry
becomes a symbol of her own emotional space - somewhat heavy, but forever
moving. The engine of the ferry sounds like an echo of her own pounding heart.
Perhaps she is about to reach some kind of clarity - maybe she is on the verge of
finding something she has missed for a long time. Journey, freedom, drive.
A Room of One's Own
In an elegantly furnished room on the ferry we find the main character again, the
beautiful middle-aged woman whose toned down beige clothes almost merge into the discrete interior of the room. She walks around carefully studying the room and finds a painting on the wall. It depicts a map, more specifically a 'Carte de Tendre', a map of the emotions made in 18th century France. In a Carte de Tendre cities are named after emotions. Here, the capitals are named for instance Tendre-sur- Estime (Affection by Esteem). There is also an ocean called La Mer Dangereuse (The Dangerous Sea).
Having studied the emotions on the map, she goes on to live out her own feelingsin a love scene in which she is seduced by a young man. This scene unfolds partly under water, partly in one of the cabins of the ferry. It is at once daydream and reality. She seems happy. Finally, the main character rises up to the surface of the water, relieved, panting and revived - as if she had held her breath, and restrained herself, for ever and ever.
A Question of Silence
The woman is sitting with her husband in a luxuriously furnished transit lounge.
Hesitatingly, the husband puts his arm around her, while she absent-mindedly digs her fingers into her thigh. Under the table in front of them, a doll begins to sing: "There must be something wrong. For love's not choking on her song." But only the woman hears it.
The doll, singing in a slightly melancholy tone of voice, looks like a woman, but a set of rough sideburns are concealed under its long hair. Gradually the main character becomes more and more absorbed by the song and perhaps by the possibility of harbouring emotions and desires that point in several different directions at the same time. The woman now seems almost cheerful and relieved while she sings along with doll.
No Man Is an Island (2002)
One of Just's early films, No Man Is an Island, is shown in the tower at Nikolaj
Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center. The title refers to an 18th century English
proverb pointing out that human beings cannot exist on their own. In the film, we see a middle-aged man waltzing across one of Copenhagen's open spaces, the Blĺgĺrd Square. He flings out his arms and spins around. This scenario, accompanied by soft and carefree jazz music, seems self-ironic and unreal. People on the street - children, young people and elderly - automatically become an audience following the dancer. Meanwhile, a young guy is sitting by himself crying on a bench. The film concerns this contrast - between one person's loneliness and the sense of community on the square where the man's high-spirited dance apparently rubs off on those present. As viewer, you develop a need to see a third person, acting somewhere in between the two others - emotionally as well as socially. As opposed to the other films by Jesper Just included in the exhibition, No Man Is an Island is not about a person who
goes through a development. It is rather about the limited possibilities for masculine expressivity. -SHO