Our collaboration and relation started in 2006 when we met at the Academy of Fine Art in Trondheim. Since then we have been working together in various ways; overlapping, interwined, time-shared, separated, face to face, back to back and head to feet. We have also collaborated with others who (some) in mysterious ways crossed our path (Six ghosts spell unknown alphabet).
Our prints are based on sketches and photos that we process in several rounds. In our collaboration we appreciate misunderstandings and opposites that push or displace the theme in different directions. Within this we have formed a common standpoint in the form of black and white woodcut, as a permanent comma in the dialogical process between us. Furthermore, we cut the plates, recycle and make new variations and combinations of these. Our production therefore is not about single works to a great extent, but about the mass of links and fractures as a result conversations we have had, socio-cultural trends and popular culture.
Text by: Cathrine Dahl and Ørjan Aas.
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From biology, we know that the term ecology is used for the study of interactions between organisms and the environment. In one sense, Dahl and Aas´work is a build-up based on such biological ecology. Forests, insects and various forms of magic or twisted creatures inhabit Dahl and Aas' world. Their world is unreal perhaps, but not without portraying their form of nature, in one sense or another. At the same time, it is obvious that this is not any nature, but rather staged stories and characters that are completely different from the one we find in, well, nature. Narratives stretch up and appear to circulate and propagate. This allows meanings to move in unexpected directions, and gives life to the wildest stories. Thus, a type of informational ecology is applied in the motives - stories that deconstruct themselves and mutate from print to print. It is apparently also a sign on how the duo Dahl and Aas works: a partnership in which the boundaries between their respective intentions gradually changes as the work moves from one’s hand and thoughts to the other’s and back again. This process can be seen active in their work.
Text by: Tomas Bjerke Holen
Photo by: Hilde Osen