Present Greens (Landscapes Are Images)
Present Greens (Landscapes Are Images) is an installation developed specifically for a large grass covered field on the grounds of Kulla Gunnarstorp castle north of Helsingborg. Its surroundings are vast fields of crops and old trees, with the castle grounds and its buildings in the background.
The work can be experienced from the road and bicycle path, Kattegattleden, which passes right by the field. It is a work developed specifically to be experienced in movement as this is the most frequent way of encountering the site.
The installation consists of 15 green mirrors, rectangular glass sheets painted with hues of green on the backside, held by wooden stands. Five different green hues which all relate in varying degrees to the greens of the grass, trees and other vegetation in the surroundings are repeated in the work. The 15 green mirrors are placed forming a 50 meter long line along the east-west axis and they have 5 varying repeated angles.
Present Greens (Landscapes Are Images) operates as a measuring device, or an instrument, which through its relation to its surroundings emphasises its ever-changing conditions. The greens of the landscape continually change throughout the day and the year, a distinct signifier of unceasing transformation.
Encountering the work one experiences simultaneously the reflection of ones background, the relationship between ones background and foreground, as well as the present relationship between the greens of the work and the greens of the surroundings.
The work intends to encourage the recognition that the encountered landscape is moving, just as its perceiver, slightly disturbing the perceivers confidence in the fact that expectations will be met, thus challenging preconceptions of the landscape. Present Greens (Landscapes Are Images) renders things more visible through its presence, through the contrasts and relations which it generates. It emphasises the present qualities of the landscape and generates new conditions.
The secondary title Landscapes Are Images is inspired by an article titled Gardens Are Images written by the Swiss sociologist Lucius Burckhardt concerning the social and historical construction of gardens.
Present Greens (Landscapes Are Images) is a work which activates, and generates, rather than occupies space. As you move, the landscape moves with you.
Photographer: Hampus Berndtson
