Geir Backe Altern
(He/him)
Address: Sentrum senter for samtiden, Enebakkveien 17, 0657 Oslo
Floor: 1
The studio is open Saturday 26 April from 12-17
My main concern is with the public space and how we as a society and individuals relate to it. I am inspired by the random audiences, walking in the forest, in a park in Oslo, in the mountains or along a river where I sail past on a sculpture. My work takes form of interventions/installations, paths, performances or events in public spaces. In galleries, the works take form of installations consisting of everything from photography, video, painting, text, sculpture and site-specific carpentry.
Art is at its best, I think, when it is not immediately understandable. Where the language is not text, where the possibility of misunderstandings and personal interpretations is significant. It creates fertile ground for play with thought and form, function and language, untextual, mysterious and overwhelming. Wonderful and surprising, like nature, like a walk in the forest, without talking.
Installation, performance, relational aesthetics, video, photography, painting, sculpture, time- and place-specific works
The secret path, Geir Backe Altern, path, 750 m, 2019, Alnaelva, Oslo
The path that´s partially vissible, Geir Backe Altern, path, 6 km, 2021, Skien Kunstforening, image of map and moss, how the path was represented in the gallery.
Made in woods, Geir Backe Altern, installation, 2018, Galleri Seilduken, Oslo
I dig you Terje N, Geir Backe Altern, marker, ink, glitter and acrylic on paper, 2022
winterwonderland I from Geir Backe Altern on Vimeo.
Planned projects and exhibitions
I am currently working on completing a new path in Torshovdalen, which will open mid-June 24. In addition, I am working on the project “NOMADLAND”, which is a larger site-specific work on an occupied strip of land along the lake Tyrifjorden. “NOMADLAND” is also the arena for “Leir med Geir”, which is a summer camp I organize for artists in the establishment phase with a focus on site specificity/identity. Furthermore, I work with painting, text and drawing for future exhibitions as well as an artistbook in collaboration with the Swedish artist Gustav Samrelius.
CV
CV for Geir Backe Altern, 160178
Johan Selmersgate 2
0475 Oslo
Tel: +47 41 21 71 90
post@geirbackealtern.no
Member of NBF, September Split and CCC
Education:
17/19: Oslo Academy of Arts, MA Art and Public Spaces
07/10: Art Academy in Tromsø, BA contemporary art
02/04: Strykejernet Art School
02: TV and video production, Oslo University College
01: Ex. Phil/ex. Fac, University of Oslo/Mexico
00/01: Summer and Winter Study Centre, Sports and activity management training
Solo/duo:
2023: “For the first time in 2dim”, Sentrum center for the contemporary, Oslo
2022: “While I wait for winter night” performance sculpture for Eco Extreme, Atna, Stor Elvdal.
2021: “A path around google”, Skien art association, Green Light District
2020: Half (g) ISLAND! event, Alnaelva, Oslo
2020: Thor Heyerdal Triathlon, performance for Eco Extreme, Atna, Storelvdal
2020: Touch woods, Galleri 69, Oslo, together with Lars Paalgård
2019: The secret path, work in public space, along the Alnaelva, Oslo
2018: Made in woods, Gallery Seilduken, Oslo
2017: høstØY!, festival, event, Klubb Vorta, Oslo
2016: PåskeØY!, event, Middelalderparken, Oslo
2015: “Go with the flow. A cubistic river cruise”, collaboration with Gustav Samrelius at
Nebbelux, Fredrikstad.
2015: “Kurant bed and video”, collaboration with Kuk og Parfyme, Kurant during TIFF.
2014-15: “I’m moving out”, Solo tour in Finnmark. Part of SKINN’s project Imprint.
Hammerfest, Kjøllefjord, Kautokeino, Vadsø, Alta, Svolvær.
2014: In search of elements for the perfect forest. Solo exhibition, Nebbelux, Fredrikstad
2014: ISLAND! 2014. festival, event. Gartnerløkka, Tøyen, Oslo
2014: “TODAY THE BRENNERIVEIEN IS A PRETTY DEAD AREA”, Solo exhibition at
ROM for art and architecture, Oslo
2014: ""How the Snusmumriken, Sniff and Lille My rebuilt the house after the great
the wave that flooded the valley" carpentry in the performance Sadim, Lille Scene, Blacbox, Oslo
2013: “WE JUST DO WHAT WE HAVE TO DO”, Kurant, Tromsø. Curator, exhibition architect and artist. With Tomas Postiglione and Jostein Fox 2013: ØY!2013 halfway there. Temporary sculpture in public space, akerselva, Oslo
2012: “Watch your head, risk of self-harm”, site-specific carpentry in the performance Sadim, Oslo.
2012: ØY!2012, festival, event, Akerselva, Oslo
2012: “The Man and the tree” SALT, Oslo.
2012: “On why I built three rafts before I built a bridge or how to build one
Refrigerator and other tasks for a modern life on an island, solo, Galleri Blunk, Trondheim.
2011: “This is not as it should be, this is all about me” exhibition in 4235, Genoa, Italy.
2011: ØY!2011, festival, event, Akerselva, Oslo
Group exhibitions etc.
2020: Eco extreme, Atna, Storelvdal.
2018: SS and friends, SUMMERCAMP, Kunsthall Vorta, Oslo
2017: Festival artist, Sommerøya, Oslo
2016: As long as blood runs through us, Bølgen Kulturhus, Larvik
2015: “Chalkwheel workshop no. 2”, CCC Kunsthalle, Fredrikstad
2015: “Members Only”, Studio 17, Stavanger
2015: “So Basic”, SØ, Copenhagen
2013: “Inspired by”, September Split curatorial one. Curator of exhibition together with Kjetil Kristensen, September Split’s former head office, Carl Berner, Oslo 2013: «Business Class», September Split 2013, Trinosophes, Detroit
2013: “Vebjørn and friends”, exhibition space Q, Copenhagen
2012: “Mirando la finca madre”, September Split 2012, Barcelona, Spain 2012: “If you fall, you just have to climb back up”, site-specific installation, Up to Nature, Nordmarka, Oslo
2012: “SALT/MINT/PISS”, site-specific installation, Hovefestivalen, Arendal 2012: “Institutional leftovers”, REALITY, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo
2011: Sound contribution to Margrethe Pettersen’s “Walking among plants in time and space”, Tromsø 2011: ++, group exhibition, Black Box, Oslo (December)
2011: Detour home, group exhibition, Kurant
2011: More north than Norway, En takkepakke, event, exhibition, Kurant, Tromsø 2010: LIAF, Lofoten International Art Festival, performance
2010: Betreyed by nature/Never trust a pioneer, BA exhibition, Art Academy in Tromsø 2010: Participation in Nordnorsken
2009: Young artist Festspillene in Northern Norway
2009 Lydkollektivet Kubbe og kasett, concert/performance, Kurant, Tromsø 2009: Moving Image, group exhibition, Kurant, Tromsø
2008-10 Participation in joint exhibition, Homage à Iver Jåks, tours Scandinavia 2008: Festival artist Riddu Riddu, Kåfjord, Troms
2008: Home Alone, group exhibition, Tromsø Art Association
2007: Everyone is talking about Mandelbrot, group exhibition, Verksted Mandelbrot, Oslo Support:
2023: One-year work grant BKV
2019: Various grants, newly established artists (MA grant)
2015: Various grant, Norwegian artist grant
2014: Culture Council, pre-project support, performing arts. Collaboration with Solveig Laland
2014: Culture Council, exhibition support. In search of the perfect forest, Nebbelux. 2012-15 State artist grant, 3-year work grant, younger graduates