Henrik Hakansson | the artist

Installations

Out of the Black into the Blue

The Thin Line Between Love and Hate (Only for the Lonely).

Swedish artist Henrik Hakansson explores the boundaries between culture and nature, while addressing the loss of a species, the loss of art, and issues of collecting and theft in the natural world.

Hakansson used the distinct cultural environment of the fair to facilitate the production of an off-site event, while also employing the format of performance and the scenario of filmmaking. A concert hall more regularly used for classical recitals was the site of a solo performance of a bird. In this synthetic environment a native British songbird became a fragile, exotic spectacle. The observation of nature results in the production of culture. The audience themselves became players and, in turn, the process of art-making became the subject of the piece. All Frieze Art Fair visitors were invited to take part. The performance was recorded and will be produced after the event as a film work…