Chromogenic print on Fuji Crystal archive paper, framed
59.0 x 47.0 (cm)
23.2 x 18.5 (inch)
The nine photographs presented here by the Norwegian artist Torbjorn Rodland date back to 2003 and his somewhat overlooked exhibition, ‘Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Room, Goodnight Breasts’. While criticized at the time, the exhibition changed numerous aspects of how Rodland produced and presented his works. Most significantly he abandoned the forest as the main setting for his work – opting out of any notion of a ‘site’ or Scandinavian landscape. Instead, Rodland located his motives in a darkened studio space – a mythological space, non-specific. Further emphasising this shift from the natural is the use of artificial light, where subjects are lit in dramatic red light against an otherwise darkened space. Occasionally there is moonlight or fog; the nocturnal character is further emphasised by the models wearing pyjamas or the dreamlike haziness. In several cases, Rodland made multiple exposures of the same motif or seemingly identical photographs appear alongside each other with only slight variations and very little sense of progression.
