Arild Skarsfjord Berg

(He/him)
Address: Hvervenbukta, Ljansbrukveien 2, 1250 Oslo
Floor: 1
Room number: Venstre side, nordre portnerbolig
The studio is open Saturday 26 April from 12-17

Open map

I am interested in the materiality of everyday objects and the relationship between people and their surroundings. During the war in Gaza, I recently saw a news report in which a man pulled a dress out of the ruins of a bombed house. The dress had belonged to a relative who was now dead. In my latest works, I use ceramic tiles and clothing to express something that has disappeared.

Public art, installation, ceramic art

www.norskekunsthandverkere.no/kunstnerregister/arild-berg

Three art objects with folded clothes between ceramic tiles tied together with cotton string.

'Ended Epochs', portrait series: 'Standing in the Wind', 'Ethical Hacking' and 'Farewell Josefine', by Arild Skarsfjord Berg, ceramics and clothing, 3 works 26x26x16 cm., 2024, Rackstad Museum, Arvika, Sweden. Installation image, photographer and curator: Hannes Trygg.

My mother's clothes in different colors folded between two ceramic tiles and tied together with a cotton string.

'A land far up north', by Arild Skarsfjord Berg, ceramics and my mother's clothes, 26x26x16 cm, 2024, Rackstad Museum, installation, photographer and curator: Hannes Trygg.

My father's clothes folded between two porcelain tiles and tied together with a cotton string.

'Greetings from the mountains' by Arild Skarsfjord Berg, porcelain tiles and my father's clothes, cotton string, 26x26x14 cm, 2024, Rackstad Museum, detail, photographer: Arild Berg.

My son's white waiter shirts folded between two porcelain tiles and tied together with a cotton line.

'Farewell Josefine' by Arild Skarsfjord Berg, porcelain tiles and my son's white waiter's shirts from Josefine tavern in Oslo, 26x26x14 cm, Rackstad Museum, seen from above. Photographer: Arild Berg.

In my studio

I seek a form of duality in the works where the materials on the one hand testify to historical, sometimes tragic stories, but also another side where the drawing and glazes have a freer approach. In the studio I cast ceramic tiles and fire them in a kiln. I draw and assemble works. It is also inspiring to take a walk down to the beach that is directly below and to be in the beautiful natural surroundings.

Planned projects and exhibitions

I am working on a book project about a ceramic artist, Inge Pedersen (1961 – 2019). The book will be published this fall by Orfeus Publishing. It is about his innovative methods in ceramic art. In my own art projects I work with various forms of participation, something I have done for many years in public art projects with a particular emphasis on participation through artistic processes related to architectural ceramics. I use ceramic tiles and clothing to express something that has disappeared, and use the poetic potential from my own everyday life, to create a series of portraits under the theme ‘Ended Epochs’. The series has been accepted for the Østlandsutstillingen exhibition and will be shown at the Nitja Center for Contemporary Art this spring, and at the Oplandia Center for Contemporary Art/Galleri Fjordheim in the fall.

CV

• EDUCATION
2014 Doctor of Arts, Department of Art, School of Art, Design and Architecture, Aalto University, Finland
1999 Practical Pedagogical Education, Department of vocational teacher education, Akershus University College, Norway
1997 Master’s of Art, Department of Ceramic Art, Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Norway
1994 Bachelor of Arts, Department of Ceramic Art, Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Norway
1991 Teacher education in arts and crafts, National College of Arts and Crafts, Blaker,

• INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS (13 in total) selected:
2024 Rackstadmuseet, Arvika, Sverige, Blue Collar – White Collar, med Arild Berg, Mona J. Hoel, Elise Kielland, Linda J. Lothe, Mimi Swang. Sammen med utstillingen Finding Clay med Joel Stuart Beck och Kristine Thenman
2023 OsloMet University gallery, Transform, CraftHub travelling exhibition and local dimensions, EU project.
2022 International Academy of Ceramics, ‘Melting Pot’, Members choice . Geneva 2022 IAC Congress,
2019 Korean International Ceramic Biennale, Blue Collar – White Collar, AvArt Korea edition, Online Exhibition,
2017 Nääs konsthandverk, Nääs Castle, Gothenburg, Blue Collar White Collar, AvArt edition Nääs,
2017 Galleri Bergman, Karlstad, Sweden, Clay Coherences,

• NATIONAL EXHIBITIONS, (30 in total, selected)
2024 Hadeland Glassverk, Galleri 2, Håndverksfestivalen
2023 Galleri Fjordheim, Tidslinjer. Gruppeutstilling med Kristin Andreassen og Elise Kielland
2022 Gallery FORMAT, Out of the Blue: Blue Collar – White Collar– AvArt Oslo Edition
2021: Paviljongen, Hvervenbukta, Kulturetaten, Oslo kommune: ‘Av havet det steg’
2021 Kimen kulturhus, Gallery Kimen: Tempo, Duo exhibition with Kjersti Berg
2020 Kraft, Gallery, Blue Collar – White collar – AvArt Bergen Edition (postponed Covid 19)
2018 Craft 2018, Årsutstillingen, Østfold kunstsenter, Blue Collar- White collar, AvArt edition Fredrikstad

• PUBLIC ART PROJECTS
2017 Ullerud Hospital Garden: Outdoor sculpture park, Drøbak ,
2011 Sandnessjøen upper secondary school, “Long gone”, interior and fireplace,
2010 AHUS University Hospital, “Art culture, design and health”, ceramic art,
2008 Røyken upper secondary school, “Some sort of observatory”, stairs,

• FELLOWSHIPS, AWARDS AND PRIZES (19 in total) selected:
2021: Diversestipend, Statens kunstnerstipend
2020: Norwegian Council for Cultural Affairs, Equipment grant for shared Artist studio, Hvervenbukta
2016: Diversestipend, Statens kunstnerstipend.
2005 Oslo City cultural grant

• COLLECTIONS
2017 Västra Götalandsregionens konstsamling, acquired by Västra Gøtaland innkøpskomite
2014 Oslo and Akershus University College, acquired by the institutions art consultant

• INVITED SPEAKER (SELECTED)
2023 Nitja senter for samtidskunst, Panelsamtale: genreoverskridelser kunst, design og kunsthåndverk, 23.11.2023
2020: International Academy of Ceramics, The 49th IAC Congress Rovaniemi/Posio 2020, Finland, July 27th to 31st. Theme of the congress “On the Edge”. Section: Making and Well-being: ‘Ceramic practice in health research – making public art in a hospital’. (postoponed to 2021 due to Covid 19).
2020 Public Art Agency Sweden and Södertörn University, Sweden, Conference: Public Art in the Nordic Countries; Round table two: ‘Public art and the public’ the conference is a public programme in a collaboration entitled Renegotiations: The Role of Public Art after the Turn of the Millennium (2019–2020), which forms part of the government commission Knowledge Hub Public Art. https://publicartagencysweden.com/events/konferens-public-art-in-the-nordic-countries/
2019 Korean International Ceramic Biennale. Icheon world Ceramic Center and Online Platform. ‘Artistic Research of Dogme Film in Ceramic art, a case study of the interdisciplinary art project Blue Collar White Collar.’
2018 Telemark Kunstsenter: Greenlightdistrict: Seminar om forholdet mellom kunst, forskning og samfunn, Torsdag 20. september ‘Framveksten av kunstnerisk forskning- et case studie av kunstneriske undersøkelser innen helseforskning’ ved Arild Berg, pro-dekan, OsloMet.
2017: Artistic research in public space in a hospital, Aalto University, Juha Varto Seminar

50 scientific publications in total: selected:
1. Risnes, Martha; Thorstensen, Erik ; Mirtaheri, Peyman ; Berg, Arild Skarsfjord (2024). Exploring value dilemmas of brain monitoring technology through speculative design scenarios. 11 p. Journal of Responsible Technology. Vol. 17.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrt.2023.100074
2. Berg, Arild (2023). The University as a Vitrine. Turpeinen, Outi (Ed.). Unfolding the Public Art at Aalto University. p. 124-135. Helsinki: Aalto University.
https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=-FfBEAAAQB
3. Berg, Arild Skarsfjord ; Johansen, Safora ; Lund, Anne ; Riegler, Michael ; Andersen, Jorunn Marie (2023). A Salutogenic Approach for Collaboration in Health and Technology. Garg, Bishan Swarup (Ed.). Health Promotion – Principles and Approaches. IntechOpen.
https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.111866
4. Berg, Arild; Hoel, Mona Johanne; Kielland, Elise; Lothe, Linda Jansson; Swang, Mimi (2022). Dogma Film and Ceramic art: The Case of ‘Blue Collar – White Collar’. In Christensen-Scheel, B., Aure, V., & Bergaust, K. (2022). Artistic and Art-Based Research Methods: The Mutual Developments of Theory and Practice in Contemporary Art Research. 35 s. Nordic Journal of Art and Research (A & R) . Vol. 11.
https://journals.oslomet.no/index.php/ar/article/v…
5. Berg, Arild; Sandtrø, Tengel Aas; Güler, Evin; Carella, Alfredo Raúl; Norvalls, Mali; Haugen Thor, Jenny Helene; Lysebo, Marius (2020). Designing an interdisciplinary course in a makerspace towards collaborative creativity for a sustainable society. FormAkademisk – Forskningstidsskriftet for design og designdidaktikk . Vol. 13.
6. Pavel, Nenad; Medola, Fausto Orsl; Berg, Arild; Brevik, Birger (2020). Multistable Technologies and Pedagogy for Resilience: A Postphenomenological Case Study of Learning by 3D printing. Design and Technology Education: an International Journal, [S.l.], v. 25, n. 1, p. 116-129, feb. 2020. ISSN 1360-1431. Available at: <https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/DATE/article/view/2712>. (PhD Supervisor)
7. Berg, Arild (2018). Participation in hybrid sketching. FORMakademisk Research journal of design and design education. Vol. 11. https://doi.org/10.7577/formakademisk.2676
8. Disen, Karen; Berg, Arild (2018). Striper – sett i lys av Schillers ideer om menneskets grunndrifter i form. [Stripes – seen in Schillers’ Perspectives on Human Play Drive on Form] FORMakademisk- Research journal of design and design education Vol. 11. https://doi.org/10.7577/formakademisk.2682
9. Berg, Arild, (2017) Designing Sense of Place, in Design for a Sustainable Culture: Perspectives, Practices and Education, Ed. By Reitan J, and Skjerven, A. Routledge Studies in Culture and Sustainable Development, Routledge. Book chapter. Retrieved from https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315229065/chapters/10.4324/9781315229065-7
10. Berg Arild, (2017) Kunsten i aksjonsforskning (The Art of Action Research), in Teoretiske og empiriske perspektiver på aksjonsforskning i Norge, (Theoretical and empirical perspectives on action research in Norway) by ed. Gjøtterud, S., Hiim, H., Jensen L.H., Steen-Olsen, T., Stjernstrøm, E., & Husebø, D., Cappelen Forlag, Oslo. Book chapter. DOI https://doi.org/10.23865/noasp.17
11. Berg, Arild (2014). Artistic Research in Public Space: Participation in Material-based Art. ISBN: 978-952-60-5602-9. 256 s. School of Arts, Design and Architecture. Aalto ARTS books. Retrieved from https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/13788 (PHD thesis)