Gabriel Bott-Anderstedt "The Child and the Harp" 19.05-18.06.22
”We fell into a special mood on those nights off the Zinc Cliffs: gay but with a touch of suspense, as if inside our sculls, instead of the brain, we felt a fish, floating, attracted by the Moon. And so we navigated, playing and singing. The captain’s wife played the harp; she had very long arms, silvery as eels on those nights, and armpits as dark and mysterious as sea urchins; and the sound of the harp was sweat and piercing, so sweet and piercing it was almost unbearable, and we were forced to let out long cries, not so much to accompany the music as to protect our hearing from it.”
Italo Calvino, The Complete Cosmicomics.
Gabriel Bott-Anderstedt is a Swedish artist living and working in Copenhagen. He graduated with and MFA from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen in 2017 and has participated in and curated numerous group exhibitions in Denmark, Sweden and Portugal.
Gabriel Bott-Anderstedt works across digital, 3D and analogue media. Recently he has developed a fascination with text and narrative, creating a fictional reality inspired by the remarkably intelligent mix of science and fantasy found in the work of Italian writer Italo Calvino.
Gabriel Bott–Anderstedt is interested in worldbuilding: How to think about worlds in constant flux by merging different ways of experiencing life and allow experimentation when these visions meet.
In his new show and accompanying book “The Child and the Harp” Gabriel Bott-Anderstedt explores the dreamlike state connected to childhood in combination with his relation to his mother. How her ways of coping with social norms and expectations differentiate from his own.
Bott-Anderstedt speaking about the inspiration behind this project :
“The Child and the Harp is deeply inspired by my ongoing conversations with my mother and her ways of coping with daily life, as she holds on to the belief of the Judeo-Christian God and how they guide her through the day.
The harp, the first instrument mentioned in the Bible, the main instrument of heaven, is believed to be a symbol for healing and God’s voice. The Child and the Harp is based on the story told by my mother about a harp she received as a gift. When it was given to her first time, she could not accept it as she did not see herself worthy of such a fine present. God spoke to her, telling her to take the harp since the gift was from them. My mother had no choice but to accept God’s gift. Ever since she always carries the harp with her.
Her story has made me reflect on different ways of perceiving reality. With this project, I attempt to provoke the idea of layering those realities as a more coherent and complex way of thinking.”
PRESS