N55 (art collective)
Encyclopedia
N55 is a Copenhagen
-based Scandinavian
art collective which was founded in 1994. The name refers to an address in the Danish capital, Nørre Farimagsgade 55. Over the years, N55 have achieved international recognition for their projects. They have exhibited at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
, Tramway
and Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow
, Camden
Roundhouse, Smart Museum of Art
in Chicago
, in New York
, and at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art
and at [Wysing Arts Centre,] Cambridge.
All of N55's work product is freely accessible; their books, manuals, manifestos and images can be seen online and are not copyrighted. Most of their written work is accessible in N55 Book.
Examples of work:
, all to public use. On each is erected a steel polyhedral cairn by which the area is declared to belong to "the commons". Anyone may use it as long as it is acknowledged that "Land gives access to land." While N55 has not been subject to serious legal harassment, it has received favourable attention from those concerned to protect the public domain, and from those looking for workable and just alternatives to patents and copyright.
, N55's Snail Shell System, a cylindrical polyethylene tank to enable people to move around and live in various environments. That same year, N55's Shop caused some consternation at the Glasgow
Centre for Contemporary Arts; goods were exchanged, borrowed and taken, but no money was involved. The Shop enjoyed further success in 2003 with an exhibition in New York City
.
in Copenhagen. A truncated tetrahedron
, with a floorspace of 20 square metres, the Spaceframe requires no foundations and can be assembled by hand. N55 appreciated the possibilities that modern technology provided for a revival of nomadic living. Their Micro Dwelling is a minimal space in which one person might live, supported on a tripod, thus minimally disturbing the Earth; it can also be floated or submerged. A prototype of which was shown at Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge in 2008. Wysing Arts Centre commissioned this prototype and the first N55 Walking House.
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
-based Scandinavian
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
art collective which was founded in 1994. The name refers to an address in the Danish capital, Nørre Farimagsgade 55. Over the years, N55 have achieved international recognition for their projects. They have exhibited at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is an art museum located directly on the shore of the Øresund Sound in Humlebæk, north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the most visited art museum in Denmark with an extensive permanent collection of modern and contemporary art, dating from World War II and up...
, Tramway
Tramway (arts centre)
Tramway is a contemporary visual and performing arts venue located in the Scottish city of Glasgow. Based in a former tram depot in the Pollokshields area of the South Side, it consists of two performance spaces and two galleries, as well as The Hidden Garden and offering facilities for community...
and Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Camden
Camden Town
-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...
Roundhouse, Smart Museum of Art
Smart Museum of Art
The David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art is an art museum located on the campus of the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. The permanent collection of over 10,000 objects includes works by Francisco Goya, Frank Lloyd Wright, Edgar Degas, Auguste Rodin, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Diego...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art is an international centre for contemporary art located on the south bank of the River Tyne alongside the Gateshead Millennium Bridge in Gateshead, North East England, United Kingdom...
and at [Wysing Arts Centre,] Cambridge.
All of N55's work product is freely accessible; their books, manuals, manifestos and images can be seen online and are not copyrighted. Most of their written work is accessible in N55 Book.
Members
Members include:- Ion Sørvin (born 1964)
- Øivind Alexander Slaatto
- Sam Kronick
- Ingvil AarbakkeIngvil AarbakkeIngvil Hareide Aarbakke was a Norwegian artist. With her husband Ion Sorvin, she was the moving force behind the Copenhagen-based collective N55 in 1994.- Biography :...
(1970), died in 2005 - Rikke Luther (born 1970), participant until 2003
- Cecilia Wendt (born 1965), participant until 2003
Examples of work:
Land
In the project they called Land, N55 began to acquire and dedicate small plots of land, from northern Norway to the Californian desert, in less sparsely populated places in Denmark, Holland and Switzerland, and in waste patches of cities such as ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, all to public use. On each is erected a steel polyhedral cairn by which the area is declared to belong to "the commons". Anyone may use it as long as it is acknowledged that "Land gives access to land." While N55 has not been subject to serious legal harassment, it has received favourable attention from those concerned to protect the public domain, and from those looking for workable and just alternatives to patents and copyright.
Snail Shell System
In 2002, with support from the Henry Moore Institute, N55 attracted interest when they rolled, through the centre of LeedsLeeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, N55's Snail Shell System, a cylindrical polyethylene tank to enable people to move around and live in various environments. That same year, N55's Shop caused some consternation at the Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
Centre for Contemporary Arts; goods were exchanged, borrowed and taken, but no money was involved. The Shop enjoyed further success in 2003 with an exhibition in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Spaceframe/Micro Dwelling
From 2002, the members of N55 lived in the Spaceframe, mounted on a raft of their own construction, at HolmenHolmen, Copenhagen
Holmen is an area in central Copenhagen, Denmark. In spite of its name, deceptively in singular, Holmen is a congregation of small islands, forming a north-eastern extension of Christianshavn between Zealand and the northern tip of Amager....
in Copenhagen. A truncated tetrahedron
Truncated tetrahedron
In geometry, the truncated tetrahedron is an Archimedean solid. It has 4 regular hexagonal faces, 4 regular triangular faces, 12 vertices and 18 edges.- Area and volume :...
, with a floorspace of 20 square metres, the Spaceframe requires no foundations and can be assembled by hand. N55 appreciated the possibilities that modern technology provided for a revival of nomadic living. Their Micro Dwelling is a minimal space in which one person might live, supported on a tripod, thus minimally disturbing the Earth; it can also be floated or submerged. A prototype of which was shown at Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge in 2008. Wysing Arts Centre commissioned this prototype and the first N55 Walking House.