After seeing "Another Modern Moment Completed" by Gardar Eide Einarsson (*1976, Norway; lives in N.Y ) at Team Gallery last year, we checked his work in detail and haven't regretted it. A variety of amazing kick-ass pieces, dealing with investigations into various forms of social transgression and arguments for political subversion, emerged to us in all its black & white glory.
Einarsson is attracted to the extreme, tragic versions of rebellion, exploring how such rebels transform themselves into tragic figures, causing their own downfall. He's called by some the most unpopular young artist in Norway (always a good sign...) for his big public art project in which he tried to turn a public square in Bergen - the second-largest city in Norway - into a fairy tale land of Cockaigne. In this imaginary land nobody has to work, laziness is rewarded, landscape consists of mashed potatoes' mountains and pigs walk around already barbecued. The reactions were extreme: people got mad, destroying the works, with one 80-year-old stating that it was the worst thing she had ever seen, including the World War II.
At Art Basel Unlimited he showed an installation called Barricade, inspired by a specific event, namely the Bangkok politically motivated street fights in spring 2010. The installation is a reconstruction of similar barricade from Bangkok, but the car tires were collected from the streets of the City of Basel - by the artist himself. Nice touch!