Teach us to outgrow our madness

Artist list

Karen Pontoppidan, Miro Sazdic

Karen Pontoppidan is a jewelry artist who was born in Denmark, educated in Munich and is currently a professor at Konstfack, the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm.
Miro Sazdic was born in former Yugoslavia, but moved to Sweden at an early age. She was educated at Konstfack in Stockholm, and has for some time now been teaching there.

The title of the exhibit, “Teach us to outgrow our madness”, is borrowed from the Japanese author, Kenzaburo Oe. It refers to transition, the desire to evolve into a state of wisdom, but touches also on our need for others to help us learn.

Both of these artists are in the midst of life and they cast their gazes both forward and backward in time. They both look back on childhood, with its intuitive games and the non-learned attitude to the world that a child possesses.

The exhibit is divided into two rooms, illustrating childhood and the transition into the adult world. The first room places us in childhood. The floor is covered in feathers that move fleetingly in accord with the movements of the visitors. Who hasn’t, as a child, followed a feather’s peaceful journey through the air and been amazed at its path? And Karen Pontoppidan adds,

“If the room has been deserted after a pillow fight or if it reminds us of a dreamlike childhood wish, this we leave to the visitor to decide.”