In Dependence

The book is a continuation of the exhibition, (I)ndependent People - Collaborations and Artist Initiatives, Reykjavík, 2012. This anthology contains commissioned texts that investigates notions of shared artistic practices, informal communality and `the alternative` histories specific to the Nordic region. Sara Arrhenius provides an account of the Nordic art scene and the transformations it has gone through in recent years, either side of the so- called `Nordic miracle'. Based on in-depth personal and professional experience as a curator, critic and institutional figure, Arrhenius shows how Nordic models of collaboration have undergone radical shifts, and points to new ways of rethinking these networks through informal, self organised structures. Lars Bang Larsen focuses on the notion of collective authorship. Considering Foucault's canonical text, 'What is an Author?' alongside historical examples of artist's collective, he addresses questions of representation and the politics of being seen. By contrast, Elena Tzotzi, from Signal contemporary art space in Malmö, writes about being alternative, as the only alternative - or to quote the collective M.E.E.H. which formed temporarily for the (I)ndependent People, it is about 'the freedom of difficulty and the difficulty of freedom'. The publication also contains a facsimile of the script for a performance about the inherent pitfalls of collaboration that was staged at the opening of the exhibition by the temporarily reformed collective called The Artist Formerly Known as Geist. Hersay House Bu Nomeda & Gediminas Urbonas + MIT, 4.333 and Nylo's timeline, produced during the exhibition period, are also presented and commented on by the artists. These and other contributions are contextualised through a curatorial text by Jonatan Habib Engqvist and photographical documentation of the exhibition and performances.