Bergen Centre for Electronic Arts

Hobbs/Neustetter’s sustained preoccupation with connectivity and communication in site-specific situations, finds them regressing to a time when Norway’s islands were connected less by bridges and more by good faith. Hence the artist’s most current mapping project involves traversing a group of islands in Austevoll, Norway. Their resultant 6-day camping, hiking and boating exercise served as the artist’s means of encountering and collecting particular experiences pertaining to the right of access. Hobbs/Neustetter’s installation Depth Threats serves as a reflection on the immersive and embodied nature of field research in public/private space.

James Webb has chosen to engage with Bergen’s numerous religious communities. Bergen’s history as a port city and as a site of much religious architecture, practice and diversity, was one of the inspirations behind this work. Prayer (Bergen) is a multi-channel sound installation comprising of prayers from all the religions in the city. Webb researched the many groups and met with them to make personal audio recordings of prayer that would be representative of their respective faiths. Broadcast from 12 floor-based speakers, the artwork invites listeners to wander through the installation, listening to the many prayers as a whole or to kneel down and listen to each voice intimately. The resultant experience is a captivating and detailed exploration of belief in our contemporary society.

The video program consists of 8 videoworks by different artists and 4 animation films by Cameron Platter. The selection has been made in cooperation with ISIS Arts Newcastle, where the program also will be presented. The videos are shown in Gallery 3.14’s vault. Her are the list of the participators:

Robyn Nesbitt & Nina Barnett – Warcry
Hasan & Husain Essop – Visiting the Revolution
Bridget Baker – Steglitz House
Nandipha Mntambo – Ukungenisa
Simon Gush – In the Company of
Jessica Gregory & Zen Marie – The Perfect Leader
Donna Kukama – Swing
Eduardo Cachucho – Water
Bongani Khosa – In Transit
Nadine Hutton – Ignore Me
Berni Searle – Gateway

The opening was on Friday 4. June at 18:00. On Sunday 6. at 7pm in the Gallery, Hobbs, Neustetter and Webb, held an artist talk about their works.

The exhibition is supported by The Norwegian Art Council, The Municipality of Bergen and OCA – Office for Contemporary Art Norway.

The recidency is supported by AiR Bergen