Malin Pettersson Öberg

Exhibition with artists’ books and printed matter: Travelogue as Allegory. Konstakademien/The Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm 5th – 20th March.

(Photographer: Björn Bengtsson)

« A
 number
 of 
exhibitions
 with
 and 
about
 books 
have
 been
 realized 
in
 the 
field
 of
 contemporary 
art 
and
 design 
in 
the 
last
 few
 years.
 Most
 of
 them 
focusing 
in a
 structural perspective 
on 
books 
as 
objects
 or
 books
 as 
reference
 material.
 Travelogue
 as
 Allegory takes
 this 
as 
given 
and
 sharpens 
the 
perspective 
as
 with
 regards 
to 
form 
and 
content. Projections 
and
 desires,
 which 
set 
traveling 
off,
 can 
be
 understood
 in
 different
 ways.
 They can 
be 
thought 
as 
curiosity 
for 
the 
unknown,
 as 
spirit
 of 
exploration,
 as
 lust
 for
 adventure,
 as
 aim 
for 
education, 
or 
as
 impulse 
to 
find 
oneself, 
to 
locate 
oneself. 
Traveling 
can 
also 
be touristically
 motivated 
and
 as 
such 
follow 
the
 reports 
of 
predecessors. 
In
 order
 to achieve
 a temporal,
 as 
well
 as
 an 
economical 
advantage, 
traveling 
functions
 as 
part 
of expanding a territory 
or 
the 
dimension 
of 
one’s
 responsibility:
 Travels
 may
 be 
motivated 
by
 the 
reason 
to
 possess. Artists’
 books,
 publications 
and 
printed 
matter,
 which
 have 
emerged 
from
 and 
through
 travels
 are
 at 
the 
core 
of 
the 
exhibition
 Travelogue
 as 
Allegory.
 The two‐dimensional
 space
 of
 book
 pages,
 choreographed 
by 
the
 user’s 
logic 
of 
turning 
them
 is 
especially 
suitable 
to
 retrace 
three‐dimensional 
realities 
and
 temporarily
 structured
 events.
 As 
travelogues,
 photo essays,
 adventure
 stories, 
sci‐fi 
novels 
a.o. 
they 
represent 
and 
reproduce personally experienced
 or 
fictional
 journeys, 
which
 become
 formatted 
through
 the 
publication.

 Travelogue
 as 
Allegory is 
reflecting
 upon 
the
 connection 
between 
traveling 
and
 the 
artistic
 impulse 
of
 publishing 
and 
showing 
in
 the 
form
 of
 an 
exhibition. »

(Excerpt from text by the curator, Maja Wismer)

A longer text about the exhibition, published in Volume 6 No.1 October 2011 of The Blue Notebook: Journal for Artist’s Books can be downloaded here: Travelogue as Allegory