{"id":1626,"date":"2016-12-27T15:40:15","date_gmt":"2016-12-27T15:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arneborgan.com\/?page_id=1626"},"modified":"2016-12-27T15:40:15","modified_gmt":"2016-12-27T15:40:15","slug":"science-is-friction","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/arneborgan.com\/index.php\/science-is-friction\/","title":{"rendered":"Science is Friction."},"content":{"rendered":"

Science is Friction.<\/strong>
\nSolo Exhibition at Galleri 21, Malm\u00f6, Sweden.
\n11\/2 \u2013 4\/3 2012<\/p>\n

Science is friction.
\nby Kjetil R\u00f8ed.<\/p>\n

In a mythical age, man was not clearly separated from his surroundings. Transitional forms flourished. In Ovid\u2019s Metamorphoses<\/em> man is in flux; he crosses incessantly over into both the dominion of things and the kingdom of animals. After the arrival of modernity, however, anthropomorphic figures became an instrument for one, in human terms, more affirmative mode of action. In Aesop and La Fontaine\u2019s fables the animals served as a medium for the preparation of man\u2019s moral constitution; the lion is strength, the fox is shrewd, hyenas cunning and the owl is wise. Much later the film director Sergei Eisenstein advanced from moralism to idealized types in his film October<\/em>, where he drafted a human typology based on animals as a structural template. Once again the animal acted as a metaphorically based medium, but this time within a more systematic framework, as a rational organizational principle, in the Russian director\u2019s proposal for a Marxist anthropology.
\nMan has always sought metaphors for his own weakness and strength; images that could extend, or make visible, what otherwise would remain obscure or hidden. Anthropomorphism \u2013 giving what is not human a human form \u2013 has since antiquity been a technique for forging an outside humans otherwise would not be able to establish. A reflexive exterior which, although it parted from what is fully human, served as a refined mirror for what would, after all, prove to be man himself. In modernity the animal\u2019s dominant function was the analytical.<\/p>\n

But as we all know: a mythical and pagan culture lives on as the undergrowth of reason and enlightenment. Irrational impulses and hybrid identities will always surface, sometimes violently, no matter how effectively man stage the animal-metaphor reflexively. Kafka\u2019s Metamorphosis<\/em> might be considered a corrective counterpart to Eisenstein modernity-typical movie, since the transformation of Gregor Samsa into a beetle does not explain anything, does not play on the same team as enlightenment and elucidatory anthropology, but rather contributes to a doubt about the limits of what is human. With Kafka a change occurred in the use of the animal as a medium, understood as an enlightenment-fuelled anthropomorphism. For him it was not a question of using the animal as a explicatory metaphor, but to bring forth the animal within man himself<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In his animal-collages, which assume a not fully defined yet recognizable archival form, Arne Borgan mirrors how our viewpoint frames the animal: we usually do not consider animals as something other<\/em>, something radically different from us<\/em>, but as something to be explained through human properties (or the other way around). By giving animals superhero-sounding names, but failing to provide them with anthropomorphic features, Borgan preserves the animal\u2019s distinctive non-humanity as friction points in the implied archival science; he fixates the animal as something else<\/em>, something more<\/em> than the superhero-name and the archival form is able to provide. The balance between knowledge and the site where knowledge looses its grip is formulated in discrete and distinct terms. Science friction.<\/em><\/p>\n

With today\u2019s super heroes, we find a modernized form of the totemism reminiscent of pagan societies: by eating the animal, or enter into a critical contact with it through simulation of animal movements and sounds, some of its properties were transferred. The superhero is, as an extension of totemistic practice, a form that outlines a paradoxical or blurred area between animals and man. On the one hand human characteristics are amplified \u2013 but on the other hand, the human is left behind, entirely or partially. In Borgan\u00b4s video work A Cat and A Bat<\/em> we witness how Catwoman loses grip on the human as she approaches her the maximum peak of her superpowers; she becomes more disordered as a human being and, at the same time, more and more a cat<\/em>. Unlike Batman who use bats as a totemistic and anthropomorphic shield \u2013 where he, without danger, can remove his mask and show his true human face underneath the Batman persona \u2013 Catwoman remains, much like Gregor Samsa, an animal.<\/p>\n

Borgan\u00b4s Another Cut-Out Toy for Boys and Girls<\/em>, a series of burlesque drawings, stresses even more the gray zone between human confirmatory self-image and the animal as a treacherous point of rupture. He outlines how a complete review of the elementary elements of what is human \u2013 wherehomo sapiens sapiens<\/em> is literally picked apart as a kit, translated into something utterly comprehensible \u2013 always will uncover a bestial subtext beyond the reach of reason. Indeed it is precisely at the most unreserved peaks of analysis, Borgan tells us, where we, if we venture to its end, we get carried away by the primitive and violent remains of what is inhuman.<\/p>\n

Norwegian version.<\/p>\n

Science is friction.
\nEssay til Arne Borgans utstilling p\u00e5 Galleri 21 i Malm\u00f6, 11\/2 til 4\/3 2012.
\nav Kjetil R\u00f8ed.<\/p>\n

I en mytisk tidsalder var ikke mennesket klart avgrenset fra sine omgivelser og overgangsformer florerte. I Ovids Metamorfoser er det menneskelige en flytende st\u00f8rrelse som krysser over i b\u00e5de tingens og dyrenes rike. Etter modernitetens ankomst ble imidlertid antropomorfe figurer ofte et instrument for en, i menneskelig forstand, selvbekreftende handling. I \u00c6sop og La Fontaines fabler fungerte dyrene som medium for klargj\u00f8ring av menneskets moralske konstitusjon; l\u00f8ven er styrke, reven er list, hyenen er sluhet og uglen visdom. Senere skulle filmregiss\u00f8ren Sergej Eisenstein avansere fra moralisme til idealtyper i sin film Oktober, hvor han skapte utkast til mennesketyper med dyret som strukturerende mal. Igjen var dyret et metaforisk fundert medium, men n\u00e5 innenfor en systematiserende ramme, et rasjonelt organiseringsprinsipp, i regiss\u00f8rens forslag til en marxistisk antropologi.
\nMennesket har alltid s\u00f8kt metaforer for sin egen svakhet og styrke; bilder som kunne forlenge, eller gj\u00f8re synlig, det som ellers ville forbli utydelig eller glemt. Antropomorfismen \u2013 alts\u00e5 det \u00e5 gi det som ikke er menneskelig en menneskelig form \u2013 har siden antikken v\u00e6rt en teknikk for \u00e5 formulere en utside mennesket ellers ikke kunne etablere. En refleksiv utside som, selv om den skilte lag fra det udelt menneskelige, likevel fungerte som et raffinerende speil for det som, tross alt, skulle vise seg \u00e5 v\u00e6re mennesket selv. I moderniteten ble dyrets fremherskende funksjon den analytiske.<\/p>\n

Men som vi vet vil alltid en mytisk og hedensk kultur leve videre i fornuftens og opplysningens underskog. Irrasjonelle impulser og hybride identiteter vil alltid tvinge seg frem uansett hvor effektivt mennesket iscenesatte dyremetaforen refleksivt. Kafkas Metamorfosen kan betraktes som et korrigerende motstykke til Eisensteins modernitetstypiske film, siden forvandlingen av Gregor Samsa til bille ikke forklarer noe, ikke spiller p\u00e5 lag med opplysningen og en presiserende antropologi, men bidrar til usikkerheten p\u00e5 hvor grensen for det menneskelige faktisk g\u00e5r. Kafka markerer et skille i bruken av dyret som medium, som opplysningsbasert antropomorfisme. For ham var det ikke snakk om \u00e5 bruke dyret som klargj\u00f8rende metafor, men om \u00e5 fremkalle det dyriske i mennesket selv.<\/p>\n

I sine dyrecollager, som antar en ikke fullt ut definert men likevel gjenkjennelig arkivisk form, speiler Arne Borgan v\u00e5rt innrammende blikk p\u00e5 dyret: vi ser vanligvis ikke dyret som noe annet, noe radikalt forskjellig fra oss, men som noe som lar seg forklare gjennom menneskelige egenskaper. Ved \u00e5 gi dem superheltnavn, men unnlate \u00e5 gi dyrene antropomorfe trekk, opprettholder han dyrets s\u00e6regne ikke-menneskelighet som friksjonspunkter i den antydede arkiv-vitenskapen; han fikserer dyret som noe annet, noe mer, enn superheltnavnet og arkivformen klarer \u00e5 fange inn. Balansen mellom kunnskap og stedet kunnskapen mister feste formuleres her diskret og distinkt. Science friction.
\nI v\u00e5r tids superhelter finner vi en modernisert form av hedenske samfunns totemisme: ved \u00e5 spise dyret, eller komme i kritisk kontakt med det gjennom simulasjon av dyrets bevegelser og lyder, overtok man noe av dets egenskaper. Superhelten er, i forlengelsen av totemismen, en skikkelse som skisserer et paradoksalt eller uklart omr\u00e5de mellom dyr og menneske. P\u00e5 den ene siden forsterker man menneskelige egenskaper \u2013 men p\u00e5 den andre siden forlates det menneskelige helt eller delvis. I Borgans videoverk A Cat and A Bat ser vi hvordan Catwoman mister grep p\u00e5 det menneskelige n\u00e5r hun n\u00e6rmer seg sine superkrefters optimale punkt; hun blir hun mer og mer identitetsforvirret som menneske og mer og mer katt. I motsetning til Batman som bruker flaggermusformen som et totemistisk fundert og antropomorft felt, hvor han trygt kan fjerne masken og vise sitt menneskelige ansikt under Batman-personaen, BLIR Catwoman \u2013 som Gregor Samsa \u2013 et dyr.
\nI Borgans Another Cut-Out Toy for Boys and Girls, en serie burleske tegninger, poengteres gr\u00e5sonen mellom menneskets selvbekreftende speiling og dyret som en lumsk revne ytterligere. Han skisserer hvordan en total gjennomg\u00e5else av menneskets bestanddeler \u2013 hvor homo sapiens sapiens bokstavlig talt plukkes fra hverandre som et byggesett, noe fullt ut begripelig \u2013 alltid vil avsl\u00f8re en bestialsk undertekst som overskrider unders\u00f8kelsens intensjon. Analysens mest uforbeholdne \u00f8yeblikk vil, forteller Borgan oss, rive med seg primitive og voldsomme rester av det dyriske om den g\u00e5r langt nok.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Science is Friction. Solo Exhibition at Galleri 21, Malm\u00f6, Sweden. 11\/2 \u2013 4\/3 2012 Science is friction. by Kjetil R\u00f8ed. In a mythical age, man was not clearly separated from his surroundings. Transitional forms flourished. In Ovid\u2019s Metamorphoses man is in flux; he crosses incessantly over into both the dominion of things and the kingdom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arneborgan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1626"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arneborgan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arneborgan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arneborgan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arneborgan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1626"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/arneborgan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1632,"href":"https:\/\/arneborgan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1626\/revisions\/1632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arneborgan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}