Linje i Tre # 3 / Line in a Tree #3
2013
Vigelandsparken
Norwegian Sculpture Biennial
Suportet by Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond
Marit Roland’s Line in a Tree #3, which is a site-specific work for the biennial, continues her artistic pursuit of drawing with paper. Roland began by drawing on paper, as is commonly done, and worked for a long while within the time-honoured frames of this genre. Her transition from this classical mode of drawing to a more conceptual and sculptural mode was in many ways accidental: on one occasion she let the paper remain hanging from a single tack and saw that the medium, or rather the material, became imbued with an entirely different value. By means of trial and error, she then gradually started drawing with paper rather than on it.
Roland explores the opportunities that arise when expanding the medium of drawing. What makes it intriguing is that it is still drawing, though in a different form. The execution can be understood as performance, where the activity itself – the movements in the “drawing process” – can be traced in the tarpaulin. The action situates the work within the expanded field of art, in that, as in this case, the drawing ceases to be a drawing and instead takes shape as an installation. The white line remains as a conspicuous contrast to the trunk, the branches, and the leaves. The work thereby becomes a classic encounter between nature and culture, where the cultural incision serves to accentuate nature.
MARIT ROLAND/ 