Fine Art

To embark on making art is to become your own commissioner. It is a difficult task to give yourself. How can you be sure that you are the one commissioning your work? It is an existential question that is not easy to answer, yet it acts upon us like a gravitational pull, like a black hole that is constantly hidden to us. Society is organized through interrelated roles. The positions of customer, client, commissioner can be said to have a direct relationship with each other in situations where the task has a defined direction. There is a clear goal here. But for those who strike out on their own, they face a journey towards an unknown goal. The production of art has a direct relationship to the process of exploring the boundary between the conscious and unconscious. It is an act that is difficult to measure, compare and evaluate because art belongs to the world of the senses and emotions. Although unable to be attributed to a direct societal function, artists tirelessly continue to present their work. Without space for what cannot be easily said, and which has no ultimate goal, it can be difficult to see meaning created elsewhere. It is precisely the unknown that gives art a place in society.

The students participating in this year’s Degree Exhibition have spent three years in workshops, studios, and conversations. They have been immersed as much in a making as in a critical reflection asking questions about what they do and why it matters. Although self-reflective, their work contributes to the collective knowledge production that is the foundation of educational institutions. Teachers also learn from their students and pass it on to the next generation of artists. So even though this year’s bachelor’s students in Fine Art are now leaving the programme with their graduation exhibition, they are still leaving something behind. Future students at the Department of Fine Art will learn from their experiences about their journey into the unknown when they, in turn, will do the same.

Henrik Andersson
Senior Lecturer in Fine Art, specialising in photography