Mega capitalism, the explosion of new technologies, the hyper mobility, the neutralisation of distances, boundless communication and not least the extensive climate changes are all effects of the development the international community has seen in the past decades. This development has climatic as well as social and economic consequences the scope of which we cannot tell yet. The new situation has, however, already necessitated new ways of thinking the world. Former national, cultural, geographical and social divisions no longer make sense, but must be redefined or even transcended. The current discourse breaks down the boundaries between what have conventionally been regarded as opposing categories such as nature/culture, individual/community, national/international, and local.

The artists featured in RETHINK Relations share precisely this fundamental aim at rethinking the relationships in which we take part. Tomas Saraceno dissolves the spaces and boundaries we know, letting nature and culture merge in his biospheres which, like a kind of alternative social spaces or globes, seem able to take flight, floating freely above all national boundaries. Olafur Eliasson’s installation creates a situation where our senses activate our cognition and lead us to new insights through a new relation between ourselves and the work of art. Allora & Calzadilla’s film with its startling combinations of different, images, sounds, and meanings points to a potential that is both political and poetic and which reflecting a new global reality. Henrik Håkansson astounds us with enlarged details of nature; details we overlook in our everyday lives. Thus, the works at the exhibition points to new possible relations with the world around us and prompts a more acute awareness of the contexts which we are part and can affect.

The National Gallery of Denmark is the only place in Denmark, which features 700 years of Western art and cultural history under one roof. The museum houses a large collection of Danish and international paintings, sculptures, drawings, and installations. The collection includes works by renaissance painters, the 17th century masters Rubens and Rembrandt, 19th century painters of the Danish Golden Age, and 20th century artists such as Henri Matisse and Edvard Munch as well as the Danish artists Asger Jorn and Per Kirkeby.

Statens Museum for Kunst
Sølvgade 48-50
1307 København K.

RETHINK Relations
From October 31st 2009 to April 5th 2010
Tue-son: 10-17
Wed: 10-20
Admission: Free (more info)

Read more on www.smk.dk