STRAIGHTEN UP
Exhibition period: January 22nd – February 14th 2010
This is an exhibition that stretches outside the room and far into time. Everything displayed in it in some way treats, reflects and touches UKS. Vi have emptied our cupboards, searched the archives, and opened many a dusty drawer. This is not a chronological account and we make no claims to objectivity. Rather, our subjectivity has led the way and what we choose to display is primarily of personal relevance. The goal has been to clean up, put in order, and move on. So what really happened? And, perhaps most importantly, what will happen now?
It began in 1921; the Russian Revolution and World War I had just taken place, the Red Army attacked Kronstadt in order to subdue an anarchist uprising. Cubism was already old hat on the continent and Dadaism celebrated its triumphs internationally. UKS was an embryo in need of constant care. Like every newborn being, UKS must in this tender condition have been plastic, malleable, and under the influence of its time and surroundings.
Ulrik Hendriksen, a Danish-born painter who later in life would receive the Order of St. Olav, and Charles W. Strøm, who had been a student of Christian Krogh, were part of the circle that founded UKS in 1921. Under the care of these founders the earliest emotional impressions were regulated, and an identity began to take shape.
Not much has been documented or written about these early childhood years. UKS has always been concise in regard to its agenda, there have never been any manifestos and in principle, its brief rules and regulations have remained the same for ninety years. The overall claim has been that UKS works to secure the rights of young artists, artistically as well as socially. This claim was initially put into practice through radical self-organization, in reaction to social and economical needs.
In the early years, UKS was an exchange central where members of the organization could trade their works for goods and services. Among those who took the most advantage of this arrangement were, according to the anecdotes, Olso’s dentists. Additionally, there was originally a bank with the purpose of providing advantageous loans to members, primarily to cover their production costs but also to assist more generally in difficult financial circumstances. (The bank eventually collapsed with an empty purse, but in the 1960s a dutiful steering committee took charge of business and began to collect old debts. Once again, art was accepted as payment.)
Despite the relative lack of clear statements, UKS was thus from the get-go characterized by a pragmatic radicalism. Although they were taciturn in nature compared to the European political avant-garde, these ventures were – even in an international perspective – tremendously progressive. A crucial standpoint was the definition of the goods exchange central as an exhibition space. Considered from a developmental perspective, this phenomenon consists of representations of generalized interactions. Thus, although initially there was no struggle for the recognition of new artistic expression, the struggle for recognition of new means of institutional organization was indeed present.
Taken together, these aspects make UKS a willful, enterprising maverick, which, while geographically cut-off and to a certain extent isolated, has earned respect and recognition. However, this is more for its late accomplishments in regard to the recognition of contemporary artistic expressions, than for its truly land-breaking achievements in the 1920s in areas such as artistic self-organization and alternative economies. The social unity that was created there and then remains as a strong identity with traces of a latent anarchism, expressed through the energy channeled in political actions, such as Kjartan Slettermark’s project in Rådhusplassen in 1965, or in the circle surrounding “Kunstnersaksjon-74”. Actions like refusing membership to members of racist organizations, or the proposal to boycott the state of Israel, provide evidence of the same political consciousness.
A child with self-preservation and survival instincts, frequently positioning itself in opposition to the social status quo and fighting for its rights, UKS has often needed space to breathe. Many older artists have emphasized how important UKS has been for them personally and for Norwegian art more generally. At the same time, these accounts tend to focus more on the partying, drinking, fucking and drugs, than on what was actually exhibited. The weight of social life shouldn’t be underestimated, and sometimes alcohol provides the most warmth.
Today, the landscape has changed, and UKS has an entirely unique position. We are one of the most important platforms for Norwegian artists today, and simultaneously one of the largest professional organizations for this same group. Every person involved in UKS today plays an important role in the Norwegian art scene. We produce and procure art, we teach, lecture, and write about art. UKS has grown strong and attained influence and freedom of action, as well as power. Shaped and marked by its complex history, the contours of a fully-grown individual become discernible.
As an adult, with adult responsibilities, UKS has the prerequisites to act independently and without resistance. This new platform demands neither oppositional behaviour nor action in relation to something else. UKS no longer needs to refer to or reflect the world; we can lead a movement and create our own world with our own conditions. UKS shall look inward, to its own independence and individual needs, and shall realize its own dreams. UKS has an amazing brain that can think amazing thoughts. We can breathe and handle our stress hormones, we don’t need to hyper-react in opposition, nor enter into polemics.
To continue along the metaphors of developmental psychology, we would like to share a few decisive examples of how UKS’s actions today arise out of unconditional love, and build sustainable relations:
We have established and shall administer a trial period with full state support for an artist-run gallery. This is a globally unique experiment, which, if it turns out well, will expand and continue to grow in the long term. At the same time, we continue to assist with exhibition production and to look for new models for collaboration. We push and negotiate the limits and possibilities of arts production, within and outside the institution. We pay proper exhibition fees to the artists with whom we work, with the goal of establishing a norm.
Furthermore, we have initiated a pragmatic direction in terms of space, and we are handling our current situation through some important structural changes. Together with designers and architects we have thought into the future and have satisfied some concrete needs for our continued development. We are creating a user friendly and social environment that will function as an interface to the world. We won’t settle for opening night crowds, but want to meet our audience with greater continuity. We have built a library in which reference literature as well as monographs, catalogues and periodicals are made available. We also have a new reception, seating areas, and a kitchen facing the library, with proper capacity.
Starting from the function that the goods exchange central used to fill, we have initiated a regenerated version, where artists have access to the kitchen for cooking. Apart from food, the new exchange consists of knowledge and experience generated through informal meetings between practitioners and their audience. This is how we want things to work, unconditionally and dynamically, with space for experiments and new thoughts.
The answer to the question of what will happen now lies open before us; all the ingredients are here, our knives are sharpened, and our burners are hot and ready.
Linus Elmes
