Interview: Eric Andersen, Jes Brinch & Dorte Krogh

Hear the Grass Grow (installationsview), 2009.		Hear the Grass Grow (installationsview), 2009.

What is the exhibition about?

Jes Brinch: The exhibition is about Hanoi and the cultural and political situation in Hanoi. The expression in the title of the show “to hear the grass grow” suggests the development in Hanoi, that is held down by the government to a certain degree, but anyway things grow and develop underground. Eric dreamed about covering the entire floor of the exhibition space with real grass, and this made the starting point for the entire project, both physically, where the grass created an atmosphere of indoor garden, and symbolically, because to “hear the grass grow” is an expression that fits the situation in Hanoi now, and constitutes a good conceptual starting point. The other elements of the exhibition supplemented the image of Hanoi now, and the symbols and values that define the local image of reality. The dichotomies of the words AGGRESSION, COMPASSION and FRUSTRATION, SATISFACTION describe the mentality in Hanoi now. There is a strong underlying aggression in Vietnam now, which one only becomes aware of when seeing what goes on under the surface here. Compassion is a Buddhist virtue, which the most Asian societies boast of, but which is totally non-existent in contemporary society in Vietnam, which may be described as cynical rather than compassionate. Frustration is also evident here, and no one is satisfied, which is why the words of the dichotomy frustration and satisfaction were used. The words was made as bamboo letters, painted neon coloured, so they looked like a kind of poor man’s home made neon signs, in contrast to the real neon works also in the show. The neon 24% alludes to the percentage of the earth’s surface covered with different kinds of grass, but this was not explained, so it was up to the viewer to figure out what the 24% was about. The neon works was combined with wall paintings, and in some cases mounted directly on top of a wall painting, as in the case of the woman from Le déjeuner sur l'herbe The Lunch on the Grass made in neon mounted on top of an orange brick factory, with the bamboo text Satisfaction next to it. This was one of the more poetic assemblages that could not be read or decoded directly, and it was created in a playful style of collaboration. Eric likes to do works that can’t be read or explained directly, where as I like to do work that is very clear and understandable, and the collaborations spanned both styles of working.

Why is it important for you as an artist to do collective work?

Jes Brinch: Collaboration is a good way to develop new ideas, to discover new ways to do things, and to learn from other people’s ways of working. It was a luxury to collaborate with two totally involved people, and much more fun that doing a solo project. At the same time I am sure that Dorte, Eric and I can be seen individually in the collaboration, since we all contributed with personal ideas to a collective project, rather than breaking down individual expressions. I think this form is the ultimate creative combination of collective and individual, where the collective and the individual don’t have to be in dichotomy.

Hear the Grass Grow (installationsview), 2009.

Can you tell me how this collaboration came about?

Jes Brinch: I have known Eric Andersen since we organized the exhibition Evergreens in Baghuset in 1989, where we showed works by earlier generations of Danish artists who were important points of reference for us. Eric was one of these artists. He has always been uncompromising and has held a fringe position in Danish art, which I can indentify with. I thought it could be interesting to do a project with Eric in the context of Hanoi Future Art, since he is an artist that has been part of laying the foundations for the kind of art Hanoi Future Art works with. I presented the idea to Eric, who suggested to include Dorte Krogh, which I thought was a good idea. We decided to do a collaboration between the 3 of us. It was a really good collaboration, and became a beautiful show. The project also included a lecture by Eric, where he presented his own explanation of his artistic project from 1957 till now, and it was a privilege to experience such a lecture, and have the honour of presenting it.

What feedback did the exhibition get in Hanoi?

Jes Brinch: My impression is that people thought it was a good and entertaining exhibition. It was very comfortable to be in the exhibition space, both because of the ambient sound and light, and not least because of the grass on the floor. Because Hanoi Future Art runs a low profile to avoid press and censorship not much has been written about the exhibition locally. But the most important is the experiences of the audience since it is them the exhibition is made for.

What was THE NOBLE SAVAGE on www.torpedo18.dk?

Jes Brinch: Frank Altschul Jensen invited me to do a project for torpedo18. My original idea was to produce stickers for the streets of Hanoi, as a campaign against censorship and conventional thinking, made as if it was a public campaign made by the police. I was adviced against doing this project from all sides, and couldn’t get anybody to print the stickers. The project could have created problems, and therefore I chose to do something else. Since Dorte and Eric was in Hanoi and we where already collaborating it was natural to involve them in this project also. The idea for the project came after we went for a tour to Sapa in the mountains in the north of Vietnam, where there is a lot of ethnic people. Their cultures has become a tourist attraction and they go dressed in folklore dresses and has transformed their villages into tourist shops with mass produced souvenirs and crafts. Sapa is a fantastic place, and very fascinating, but at the same time one feels that the way to destroy a culture is to commercialize it, and turn it into a souvenir producing tourist attraction. One sees an original culture trying to sell itself while being in its death struggle. Then again it is problematic to romanticize the original cultures in Sapa, since they are suppressive, superstitious and patriarchal, not free cultures to grow up in, which is why a lot of tribal people move away, unless they can make money on tourism. A visit to Sapa generates reflections about original cultures and their qualities and problems, and not least our glorification of them. I bought a lot of costumes in Sapa and brought them to Hanoi, where we found a uniform for Eric. Among palm trees in the middle of a cross road in Hanoi we made as series of photos that shows me as the noble savage in ethnic clothing, playing a Vietnamese banjo, while Eric comes running as a policeman that arrests the noble savage. The cityscape of Hanoi made a good culture/nature contrast, and the project also made fun of artist’s status and hierarchy in the fact that Eric as the older artist arrests the younger artist. It was hard work to make the photos, but the result was fun, and the photos became great, since we had a fantastic photographer to take them.

Hear the Grass Grow (detalje), 2009.		Hear the Grass Grow (installationsview), 2009.

Dorte, you normally work as a professional photographer, how has it been to work as an artist on this installation with Jes and Eric?

Dorte Krogh: There isn’t necessarily a huge difference between professional photography and professional art. If the aim is creation of pictures and forms then the way of thinking and sensing is the same. Particularly in collective work, where one sets oneself in the others place, in the same way as one tries to interpret the customer during a commercial photo shoot.

What is the story behind the 3 video works showing golf players shooting golf balls into the night?

Dorte Krogh: At West lake in Hanoi one finds something that resembles a brightly lit harbour. Here wealthy golf players stand every night on two floors and shoots golf balls energetically out into the black nothing. Only in Hanoi the grass is substituted for the surface of the water.

What is your general impression of Vietnam, and of Hanoi in particular?

Dorte Krogh: I haven’t got any general impressions, but I am very impressed by Vu Thi Trang.

How did you work on the exhibition? Did you agree on the end result from the start or has the exhibition been created during the process?

Dorte Krogh: The exhibition was created during the process, without any prefabricated positions, and Eric got voted out several times.

Hear the Grass Grow (installationsview), 2009.

Eric, you are presently working on a cosmic art project involving grass. Is the grass in this exhibition connected to your other project?

Eric Andersen: These are 2 different universes. The idea of the SUNLAWN is the creation of a new planet and a new point of balance for our solar system. A part of the earth’s surface with a diameter of at least 10 meters rise from the surrounding lawn to continuously point towards the sun, day and night. The lawn will only have the same position in relation to the earth every 26.000 years, corresponding to the earth’s exact cycle around our star. Or to be more exact: The earth dance and turn around the new planet and the sun, while the SUNLAWN just stands still and describes the negative movement of the earth’s rotation. By being on the lawn, humans can for the first time experience sensually that we live on a planet that travels around a star. Every single blade of grass of the lawn will demonstrate the inverted growth of the surrounding grass. Where the surrounding blades of grass will point from east to west during the run of day, and lay flat during the night, the blades of grass on the lawn will always stand in a straight angle from is foundation, while the roots will search in all directions to find the centre of gravity. The SUNLAWN will be demonstrated by a mock up and a 3D computer animation during the exhibition RETHINK in Kunsthallen Nikolaj, as their contribution to the climate conference in December 2009.

Hear The Grass Grow on the other hand is an ode to Hanoi, where rice, a species of grass is met everywhere, and where the expression “to hear the grass grow” implies that there is great changes ahead and that one at the same time is sensitive and ready. The lawns in Hanoi’s parks can presently not be walked upon, while the exhibition invites to the first exercises of the future grass walk.

Tell me about THE NOBLE SAVAGE project.

Eric Andersen: Jes suggested himself arrested as the noble savage in Hanoi’s tumultuous traffic on grass. The moments was to be caught by Dorte’s super-tele, who as the only one would be able to catch the unforgettable. Since I have acted as cardinal in the mountains of Verona I immediately offered my assistance as a pedantic and fervent police officer.

Artistically, what has occupied you the most during your stay in Hanoi?

Eric Andersen: To arrive totally unprepared and listen more to others and other things than myself. And secondly the works of Ernest Hébrad.

Have the 3 of you planned any future collaborations?

Eric Andersen: One must definitely hope so.

Thanks.

Eric Andersen and Dorte Krogh recording for the soundtrack.