Tora Endestad Bjørkheim
Bjørn-Henrik Lybeck

Curated by Espen Johansen

I.
The wind is from west, and rain weaves works from water. Sheets of beaded moisture drift through air. In an atelier below the bridge hang beaded ribbons. A bridge of black pearls -
now a subject of labour
now a door of beads
a port of pearls: a point in which spaces meet.


Behind beads, backroom smells homely. Tora drinks black coffee.
The acid works on teeth, skin, copper; etching surfaces,
and writing the journey of the black, bitter bean.


II.
Bjørn-Henrik knows little about Tora’s work. Tora barely knows the work of Bjørn-Henrik. Their works work together.


Tora says Work generates work. Labour is artwork. It takes no shortcuts.


Bjørn-Henrik says Your questions work on my mind. My replies may be sketchy and not worked through. Please feel free to use my answers, and rework it to fit into your work.


Bjørn-Henrik says But talk reduces work. Hence, dreams come at play.


He has a recurring dream.
He has a recurring image on his mind;
a photograph returns to him/
he returns to the photo: Self-Portrait as a Drowned man
is an image simultaneously bitter-sweet and dreamlike, says
Bjørn-Henrik, and asks himself Are dreams the opposite of talk?

Tora Endestad Bjørkheim (b. 1986) is currently based in Bergen, Norway after completing her master's degree at Bergen National Academy of Art and Design in 2013. Recent exhibitions include Norwegian Crafts 2014, KODE, Bergen, Norway; TALENTE 2013, Munich, Germany; Masterutstillingen 2013, Bergen Kunsthall, Norway; and III Moscow Biennial for Young Art, Moscow, Russia, 2012. Together with Johnny Herbert, she is founder and editor of Grafters' Quarterly, a free, Bergen-based newspaper and a forum for engaged attitudes. 

Bjørn-Henrik Lybeck (b. 1985 in Oslo) lives and works in Bergen, Norway. He is currently doing his master degree at Bergen Academy of Art and Design. Recent exhibitions include Trial & Error, Shedhalle Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany, 2013; One Night Only, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, Norway, 2013; Bring You Own Plant, Wizard Gallery, Oslo, Norway 2014 and Vestlandsutstillingen, Kunsthall Stavanger, Norway 2014.