South of Heaven - The Forumist

WHO: Tobias Bernstrup, Visual + Performance Artist

WHAT: South of Heaven solo exhibition

WHERE: Gallery Andréhn-Schiptjenko in Stockholm/ Sweden

Artist Tobias Bernstrup’s penchant for exploring dystopian themes has taken on a different form, as he presents South of Heaven, a exhibition featuring haunting World War II inspired imagery that begs more than a few questions about the state of the world today.

Bernstrup has been working internationally for more than 15 years and has been noted for his works influenced by video games, as well as electronic musical performances during which his utilizes his own image and costuming to highlight the fluidity of gender. His work exists in the borderland between the virtual and the real, fascinated by the dystopian landscape.

With Southof Heaven, the artist presents a film inspired by the painting Monastery Graveyard in the Snow by German romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840). The painting was destroyed in 1945 in the bombing of Berlin in the last stages of World War II and the only remaining evidence of its existence is a lone black and white photograph.

Bernstrup has recreated the landscape of the painting in the form of a three-dimensional landscape model, constituting the scene of the film. The film becomes a kind of memory from the fictive place that was once depicted in the painting, and a reminder that man’s dreams of ideal worlds time and time again end in death and destruction.

In addition to the video, the exhibition consists of a new series of sculptures and watercolour paintings.

The Forum talked with the artist about his work and the current exhibit.

On the inspiration for the show and its filmic centerpiece:

I had an artist residency at “Art Lab Gnesta” this Summer, where I ended up producing most of the work. This was an incredible period in my life, as I was surrounded by nostalgia and beauty of the countryside air, green landscape and beautiful sunsets. I was working on the artwork of my upcoming record release “Romanticism” (slated for this Fall) and decided to recreate a model of a typical Caspar David Friedrich landscape for a backdrop during the photoshoot. This ultimately ended up being the page one of the movie “South of Heaven”, that’s shown in this exhibition.

My initial source of inspiration was one specific Friedrich painting that was actually destroyed during the second World War – although I didn’t know at first that this painting had disappeared during the bomb attacks. I got curious about the details of this event – like, the type of plane that dropped the bomb and what it actually looked like. When I started researching the subject it was like having flashbacks to my childhood. As a kid I was very interested in all type of military vehicles–models of them that my dad used to build. During this work I actually built a couple of these models myself, as subjects for the paintings.

On the delicate subject matter:

Just few years ago it would’ve been hard for me to imagine that I would do an exhibition with this subject. But, lots of things have happened recently and consider the political climate of today with wars, growing intolerance and general violence. Not to mention the fact that we now have a xenophobic party in the Swedish government. Altogether these factors give us a reason to rewind the tape, to be open to finally learning something.

On the process:

The film is fully analog without any digital special effects. The landscapes and the scenes are created by models, smoke machines and fake snow. This made the work quite demanding and required intelligent technical solutions. I was happy to be able to work with Johan Wik, a master of special effects. At once point, we spent an entire day on his balcony with a hairdryer getting the propellers of the planes to spin.

On taking himself out of the equation:

It quite relieving (to not be personally featured as part of the artwork). I get too much of it now on tour with my band on stage as singer and performer. I made a promise to myself this year: try new things and forget the usual routines.

On the exhibit:

This is the kind of show I myself actually would enjoy. I see lot of exhibitions and most of the time, leave them feeling totally untouched. Too many of today’s artists are trying too hard to be smart and this kills the actual experience. I want to do visually strong artwork that can still be touching, engaging and asks questions at the same time. My approach is mostly poetic and less political. It’s more about creating an atmosphere – something that you recognize but may not fully understand – both an emotional and intellectual experience.

On the artist’s playlist:

Even if the title “South of Heaven” is taken from a Slayer record, the actual music I listened to during the making of this work is as follows:

VNV Nation: When I was working on the sculpture’s