Ove Kvavik

the fall from empire

2008-06-06T00:06:00Z

After jumping from the observation deck, 23-year-old Evelyn McHale plunged over 300 meters down Empire State Building and landed on the roof of a parked UN limousine.

a portrait

2008-06-06T00:06:00Z

This singular light bulb uses the same amount of energy as a human being uses to stay alive.

When the bulb goes dead, the art piece is complete, and its residue will be taken away from exhibition.

a closer void

2008-06-06T00:06:00Z

A new version of Yves Klein’s 'Leap Into The Void'. In the 1960’s version he is on the gap between flying and falling, but in this rendered version he is centimetres from hitting the ground. The cyclist is further down the street and a car is coming in from the right at great speed.

un-titled 1

2008-06-06T00:06:00Z

Images of losing youth boxers moments after their defeat in the national championship.

erasing institution

2008-06-06T00:06:00Z

A large drawing of the facade of Kunstnernes Hus where the exhibition was. The visitors were invited to erase the drawing. After the exhibition was over, the residue was collected.

the hanging of mary

2008-06-06T00:06:00Z

After killing her trainer in a city parade in Erwin, Tennessee, 1916, the elephant Mary was sentence and hanged in front of an audience of 2500 people.

the white elephant

2008-06-06T00:06:00Z

A small elephant made of ivory, missing the tusks.

The Descent

2009-06-06T00:06:00Z

There are over 200 bodies on Mt. Everest, most of them died on the way down from the summit. On the engraving on the wall there is a quote from a surviving climber that says: "Those who die don’t die on the way to the summit, but on the descent."

Guarding the origin

2009-06-06T00:06:00Z

A framed money bill, showing two eagles guarding a void. Behind it the viewer finds a mirror reflecting Gustave Courbet’s painting "The Origin of the World" which is mounted on the opposite side of the bill.

Witness from the Drowned

2009-06-06T00:06:00Z

An empty box made of two-view-mirrors that creates an endless void looking down into it. The title is taken from the book "Remnant of Auschwitz" by Giorgio Agamben.

An Artistic Crisis / In the Time of Peace

2009-06-06T00:06:00Z

A postcard of Jasper Jones flag painting turned upside-down, simulating a flag-rule of the USA that indicates crisis and a sign for help. Underneath it is hand written "artistic crisis" and above it is written "in the time of peace" upside-down. The piece can be shown both ways depending on the artistic situation.

Exile

2009-06-06T00:06:00Z

A suitcase based upon Marcel Duchamp’s "La boîte-en-valise" containing miniatures and reproduction of works found on this site. This work will never be exhibited, but used by the artist as personal museum on travels and presentations.

Behaviour

1970-01-01T01:01:00Z

Drawings based upon the grimmer aspects of eagle's family life

Essay on Nietzsche

2012-02-07T12:02:03Z

A bust of Friedrich Nietzsche made entirely of white sand and water. In the course of the exhibition the sand dries and falls to the ground.

After the first sculpture has fallen a new bust is placed on the same pedestal, thus creating a returning sculpture and growing field of sand on the floor.

Mirror Test #1

2011-06-06T00:06:00Z

The mirror test is a measure of self-awareness, as animals either possess or lack the ability to recognize themselves in a mirror. The animal is put in front of a mirror with two spots on their body to see if they recognize a change of appearence. In this work I’ve applied the test to a work of art, Rodin’s The Thinker.

Essence of the Beat(en)

2011-06-06T00:06:00Z

Referee, audience and the offending boxer have been erased from this vintage image of a boxing match, leaving behind the beaten boxer alone in the ring.

Dystopia

2011-06-06T00:06:00Z

Before the 1990s, miners all over the world used domestic canary birds as a primitive, but effective technology for indication of toxic air.

Today the canary has become a symbol, used by environmentalist as a sign of a coming dystopia.

In this work I have reproduced an old birdcage and specifically used the medium of paint to depict the canary.

Exercise in Worsening

2010-06-06T00:06:00Z

This is a re-editing of a scientific experiment with falling cats. The order has been changed so that the cat turns around the wrong way.

Beyond the Limits of Control

2010-06-06T00:06:00Z

The image is the result of solarizing two images together. One being of an earthquake on the campus of the University of California, the other a cut out of the universe.

astronaut 1

2007-06-06T00:06:00Z

Rendered portraits taken from NASA’s public archive. All personalities are gone and symbols are changed to the unfamiliar.