Gardar Eide Einarsson (f. 1976, NO): Untitled (Flagwaste), 2015

"I love art that turns everything upside down with one swooping gesture. I clearly remember when I first saw this work. It makes us reflect on something that’s hugely difficult to talk about. What is a border? What is culture? Cultural affiliations are being challenged. The work becomes about something more than itself.

What we see on the floor are leftovers from flag manufacture. Although they are not flags as such, they say more about what a flag is than the finished flag. One might say that the work flashes the materiality of the flag. When a flag is ceremoniously flown, it is 

so much more than a piece of fabric. It becomes an expression of nationalism. Power. Culture. Affiliation. Suddenly we see the flag as construct.

The work also deconstructs the value of the flag. There are all these rules about flags, for example that they are not allowed to touch the ground, but here the fabric is on the floor. The pile of fabric takes on a performative quality. I am also reminded of burning flags, but in this case destroying the flag becomes less dangerous."

The work is on display at level 6.

Portrait: Rita Kuhlmann

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