Anders Grønlien and Michael Gimenez
Prague, 06.11.2009



« As a movement in the infinite space of classical Science-fiction, the unified narrative complex of Anders Grønlien & Michael Gimenez defines an inappropriate place of man, discharged of a world where values are hierarchically organized. ».
Karel Císař, Curator, Prague Philosophy Institut

We began our collaboration with the installation Hyperspace Module 1.0, Playing with space at the Academie of Fine-Arts (AVU) gallery in Prague in February 2008. The numbered title of this exhibition was a sign that the exhibition was the first episode in a series of installations. The numeric titles enabled the spectator to anticipate narrative beginnings and to follow the future projects as a serial work.
In the creative process of each installation we focus on the architectural configuration of the exhibition space, its light sources and the natural movement of the viewers through this space. Our work is created from accessories, special effects and genre codes taken from Science-fiction films, which are methodically integrated into the original structure of the exhibition space.
For the exhibition Year Future 2.0, The leap of faith, we decided to incorporate in the artwork the people connected to the exhibition space ; such as the galerists, curators and staff. Thereby, all the elements directly connected to the exhibition (architecture, protagonists, organization, motion and viewer) are brought together in the artwork and remodeled through science fiction, in which reference points and space are infinite.

By using the space as an integral part of the artwork and seeking to model it as a material, questions arise about the real boundaries of the exhibition space. The galerists or curators involution inside the installations (photographs, prothestics) blurs the borders between artist and the environment of independent galleries and their actors, playing with their function and hierarchal system of art diffusion.
The installations are modeled by using elements from contiguous architecture and adding seamless structures to create interiors inspired by science fiction cinema. Systematically we also make use of the exhibition protagonists in photos that are reminiscent of movie posters, which are integrated into the installations. By doing this we seek to unfold a unity of a fictional illusion and the system allowing the illusion to take place.
In this ephemeral mise-en-scène we create a setting which confronts the relationship between the spectator, the artwork, the exhibition space and the gallery staff. The idea is not to oppose mass and high-culture, but to use a fantasy dimension from our chosen influences (mainly the special effects cinema as a genre) to create a scenario that the audience can physically experience that challenges the perception of their surroundings.



Anders Grønlien and Michael Gimenez met in October 2007 for an exhibition at Borivojova 49, an underground gallery space exhibiting International artists, ran by Veronika Dolanska, Mark Fitzpatrick and Anders Grønlien. Their mutual references to the cinema and art and their approach of installation naturally pushed them to collaborate.


Anders Grønlien is graduated from the Academy of Fine-Arts in Prague, Czech Republic, in 2009.

Michael Gimenez is graduate from the Superior School of Fine-Art of Montpellier, France, in 2006.