Magnus Pind & Ánitá Beikpour

Det Sidste Åndedrag / Søen - The Last Breath / The Lake

04.02.2023–12.03.2023

Curator: Aysha Amin
Collaborating Partner: Andromeda8220, Aarhus

Kunsthal Aarhus is proud to present a restaging of the scent-sculpture The Lake, by Magnus Pind and Ánitá Beikpour. These two Aarhus-born artists originally conceived this work for the project The Last Breath, a site-specific exhibition curated by Aysha Amin within the framework of Andromeda8220, an art and architecture platform.

The artwork brings the invisible yet powerfully pervasive language of Gellerupparken´s scent to Aarhus city centre. Gellerup, which is only 10-15 minutes away in the west of the city, is one of Denmark’s largest non-profit social housing developments. Planned in the 1960s by Danish architect Knud Blach Petersen in collaboration with Brabrand Housing Association, it was a response to the poor-quality living conditions in the centre of Aarhus. The aim was to build a modernist utopia which would house up to 11,000 tenants in bright, functional apartments, providing them with access to purpose-built green spaces, community areas, and amenities. During the oil crisis in the 1980s, many tenants moved away from the area, leaving apartments empty. Since 2010, Gellerup has been viewed by many as a so-called ´ghetto´. In 2013, five apartment complexes were demolished to make space for new infrastructure projects, which drastically reduced the number of tenants to around 5,000.

In spring 2022, Beikpour and Pind interviewed a number of people with ties to the neighbourhood. They wanted to uncover memories associated with specific locations, as part of an attempt to revitalise buildings and places which are undergoing rapid transformation. From these dialogues, the artists created the fragrance Gellerup 01, which was diffused by the scent-sculpture The Lake at Gellerupscenen, a live arts theatre opened in 1984 which also functioned as a nightclub. Located beneath Andromeda8220 space on Gudrunsvej 78, it was one of Denmark’s biggest black box theatre stages (approximately 500 m2). In the 28 years it was open, a team of professionals and amateurs presented between 11 and 18 productions, attracting over 13,000 guests, each year.

Produced in collaboration with Lisbeth Jacobsen, owner of the Danish fragrance design studio odor&fumes (Copenhagen), the scent-sculpture The Lake was created as a result of conversations with people who had engaged with Gellerupscenen. Cold water vapour emanates from the rough and murky surface of the object, carrying an aroma that spreads throughout the surrounding area. Thus, the sculptural elements transform into an oversized therapeutic diffuser.

A limited edition of the fragrance Gellerup 01 can be purchased at Kunsthal Aarhus´ bookshop.

Additional work on the sculpture by Dzifa Bravie, Jamshid Beikpour and Mads Thomsen.

Biographies:

Ánitá Beikpour (b. 1989) and Magnus Pind (b. 1991) grew up together in Aarhus, where they first started working together. Now, they both live and work in Copenhagen. Since 2021, they have collaborated with Andromeda8220 on projects that involve scents, focusing on how memories and space intertwine.
Beikpour is a film director who graduated from The National Film School of Denmark. Over the last 10 years, she has participated in different collaborative works within the art scene. Her work has been shown at the 11. Berlin Biennale (Berlin), 55-19 Gallery (New York), Space27 (Beirut), Gasworks (London), and Tensta Konsthall (Stockholm). In 2021, she curated the exhibition Elitism Sucks, working within the framework of Art Hub Copenhagen. Beikpour is one of the founding members of The Union - a cultural workers union for racialized artists in Denmark.
Pind is an artist and scenic designer. His works have been presented in many international venues, most notably at Transmediale (Berlin, 2017), MUTEK (San Francisco, 2018), and Click Festival (Helsingør, 2020). His visual designs for the stage have been shown at large international theatres such as Kennedy Center (Hotel Pro Forma’s NeoArctic, 2019), Vienna State Opera (Idomeneo, 2014), and La Monnaie Belgian National Opera (Rachmaninov Troika, 2014).

Aysha Amin (b. 1996) is an artist, curator and architecture student. She lives and works in Aarhus, and is the co-founder and manager of Andromeda8220. A correspondent contributor to the architecture magazine The Funambulist (Paris), she is also the co-curator of CAFx Aarhus Architecture Festival. Since 2018, her projects have been presented at venues across Denmark, most notably at Nikolaj Kunsthal (Copenhagen, 2022) and Art Hub Copenhagen (2021). Her work was also shown internationally, including on the digital platform Hydrocapsules.love for the 11. Berlin Biennale (2020), and in the project Dimensions of Citizenship for the United States Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale (2018).