Mattias Arvastsson

Presence No.5

Using a variety of cameras and different software tools, Mattias Arvastsson creates systems for deconstructing and manipulating static forms. He defines an outline of how the material will be treated and transformed over time, and through an array of mutation algorithms, random functions and chance operations, he lets the material take on new forms, finding new rhythms and creating unexpected patterns. The raw material always comes from video recordings created through hands-on experiments prompted by a curiosity of how things work. Taking cameras apart and experimenting with the lens and imaging sensors, or simply changing a battery’s power output, can reveal an unpredictable and highly aesthetic expression.

This non-narrative approach to video has taken the work in a more spatial direction, making the common way of presenting video, on a monitor or by wall projection, inadequate. The solution became a spatial meeting between solid sculptural elements and floating video surfaces, where the fusions can be seen as «presences» within a defined space. In a similar approach as to video, the artist lets these sculptures take shape through experiments and by playing around with material, using mostly pieces of paper that are folded and shaped until an interesting form emerges. These shapes are then scaled up and constructed mainly in wood, with a lot of time and attention put into making the once fragile paper shape appear in a solid form.

Mattias Arvastsson is a Swedish artist currently living in Bergen. In 2010 he graduated from Bergen National Academy of the Arts (KHiB).