Like everything else in life, I like my art self-deprecating and silly. For instance, I have a penchant for Claes Oldenburg, who is probably the only artist whose work has ever made me laugh out loud.
In a museum, that is. I do laugh plenty in other contexts and settings.
Which is why an exhibition by the Danish environmentalist and artist (or: artist and environmentalist) Tue Greenfort - who makes sculptures from recycled materials, takes photographs of Italian waste before and after incineration, and breeds a type of South American jellyfish (which has been unsettling the ecosystem of the Bay of Kiel ever since it was accidentally introduced to the Baltic sea by container vessels) in water that is gradually being warmed up - sounds as if it was right up my street. Despite (or is it because of?) the absurdity of his installations and projects, Greenfort seems to bring across a serious message without being dogmatic.
I was also happy to read in this Frieze Magazine article that Greenfort enjoyed watching Jacques Cousteau documentaries as a child. Kindred spirit? I'd like to think that he is also a fan of The Life Aquatic.
Greenfort's exhibition Linear Deflection is on show in Braunschweig until November - too far away for me for a nice afternoon out, I'm afraid (but then we'll be on holiday soon anyway, in search of our own jellyfish).
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