Sensory Response

Formation Gallery

17 Nov 2023 – 21 Dec 2023

Opening on Friday, November 17, 5-8 PM

Formation Gallery is pleased to present the exhibition Sensory Response - a thrilling and stimulating group show with the artists: Anne Brandhøj & Signe Fensholt, Anders Bülow, Clara Toksvig, Milena Bonifacini, Kasper Kjeldgaard, Wang & Söderström and Aurora Passero, and ASMR soundscape by Loud Lou Productions.

A pulse of a somewhat supernatural reality beats in a multitude of expressions and materials, from intergalactic spearheads, glazed organs, techno markings, and abrupt limbs. Shapes push out, only to contract again, and objects take shape while others dissolve.

The exhibition's title, Sensory Response, originates from the phenomenon of ASMR - autonomous sensory meridian response - videos that, with simple action, such as a subtle whisper or the sound of a pencil drawing on paper, have an immediate stimulating effect. Based on a desire to create a connection between the physical and the virtual, the tangible and the intangible, the works are selected with a particular interest in tactile qualities that awaken our senses and make them tremble and vibrate. In an interaction between the works and their spectators, a compelling and exciting space emerges, making it trickle down the back and itch the fingers to squeeze, poke, and caress.

Since antiquity, a concept such as the sublime has been explored - in relation to various art forms - such as visual art and music. The term refers to the fact that something, a magnificent nature experience or an art experience, can have an overwhelming and boundary-breaking effect - an ecstatic experience - where we depart from the physical body and open ourselves to the senses. With the belief that we as humans need to stimulate our minds and senses in several ways, this exhibition seeks to create an aesthetic and sensory space outside of logic and necessity, where the body leads the way.

The exhibition includes collaborative works by ceramist Signe Fensholt and wood-sculptor Anne Brandhøj, where the diverse materials wood and porcelain form curious sculptures. Poetic and psychedelic three-dimensional paperworks by visual artist Anders Bülow make it flicker before the eyes. With pulsating ceramic bodies that are at once solid and fragile, sculptor Clara Toksvig explores the relationship between body and nature. Visual artist Milena Bonifacini, with her whimsical papier-mâché objects, unites painting and sculpture in a hybrid that creates associations with Philip Guston's grotesque cartoon-like people and an oversized larder. Artist Kasper Kjeldgaard's spearhead-string-tops-solar system-like sculptures vibrate in an almost hypnotic way. Imaginative and hyperaesthetic sculptural collage works by the artist duo Wang & Söderström, which feel both recognizable and mysterious at the same time, and finally the visual artist Aurora Passero, whose light textile works almost make us lift off the floor. As a soundscape for the exhibition, Loud Lou Productions has created an ASMR soundtrack inspired by the artists' works.

The exhibition is curated in collaboration with Henriette Noermark.