Lars Laumann

Lars Laumann, Helen Keller (and the great purging bonfire of books and unpublished manuscripts illuminating the dark), 2010. Photograph by Thierry Bal

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Norwegian artist Lars Laumann trained in photography and printmaking, but in his recent practice has focused primarily on film-making. Themes of obsession, fandom, love and devotion loom large in his work. He is particularly interested in the experiences of marginalised groups, ‘outsiders’, and the ways in which they are perceived by the wider community. Shut up Child, This Ain’t Bingo, a documentary video completed in 2009, explores the relationship between his close friend, Norwegian artist Kjersti Andvig, and Carlton Turner, a prisoner on death row. Berlinmuren (Berlin Wall), made in 2008, tells the story of ‘object sexualist’ Eija-Riitta Eklöf-Berliner-Mauer, who believes that objects have souls and feel emotions, just like humans. She is 'married' to the Berlin Wall, and speaks of a love in which their "souls will be entwined for eternity".

Laumann (b.1975, Norway) is drawn to stories of unusual and remote objects of love or fascination. He examines the internal work that goes into the construction of emotional attachments, and the boundaries between personal and social belief systems. He trains his gaze on these phenomena without appearing to assume a critical or analytical stance. Nor does he present them as merely ‘interesting’ Warholian or anthropological exotica. Instead he seems to be genuinely involved with his subjects; improbably, he creates a space in which we can share his ingenuous fascination.

Lars Laumann at Liverpool Biennial 2010

Helen Keller (and the great purging bonfire of books and unpublished manuscripts illuminating the dark), 2010
Video for projection, 27 mins
Commissioned by Liverpool Biennial 2010

Duett, 2010
Video for large screen, 2 mins. 23 secs. (loop)

Morrissey Foretelling the Death of Diana, 2006
Video for projection

Exhibited at Open Eye Gallery