KRISTOFFER MYSKJA
(Trondheim, NO, 1985)
Kristoffer Myskja
Kristoffer Myskja creates kinetic sculptures of tremendous technical complexity. His intent,
however, is not that of producing brute exercises of technical dexterity, but rather that of
delivering an acute social message. Indeed, Myskja’s work might be read as a reminder of
the fact that the machine is still there, a way of making us think about our increasingly
machine-dependent existence. In a way Myskja is a kind of Bertold Brecht of technological
experience: he breaks the illusion of the theatre of our everyday life. Behind our activities,
he says, the machines are running. He also underlines this by leaving the contemporary
smooth, miniature, technology, and opting for a retro-style, full-sized. While computers and
cell-phones tend to shrink, Myskja’s machines are not diminished in size. He also opts for
a brass design, which might have been made 300 years ago. Myskja’s objects operate in a
time-span, one is inclined to think, which transcends both contemporary machines and
art.
Myskja moves in a machinic tradition in art that starts with the kinetic sculptures of Marcel
Duchamp, like the Bicycle Wheel (1913) and continues with the self-destructive sculptures
of Yves Tanguy and the gravity- or wind-driven sculptures by Alexander Calder. But while
kinetic artists usually work in abstract terms, Myskja tends to isolate human activities and
integrate them in a machinic time and logic, like smoking in Smoking machine and ageing
in Machine that use a thousand years to turn itself down. While an artist like Rebecca Horn
prolongs the human body, to investigate it, Myskja severs it from itself producing
autonomous, or semi autonomous, structures. The idea of the machine is one of the most
human metaphors imaginable but through his projects it becomes an aggregate for
analyzing sequences of human actions .
www.kristoffermyskja.com
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2014
Nilas Aas Kunstverksted, Inderoy, NO
Hedmark Kunstsenter, Hamar, NO
2013
Galerie Mario Mazzoli, Berlin, DE
2012
Gallery K, Oslo, NO
2011
Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK
2010
Gallery F15 (Project Room), Moss, NO
2007
Gallery 7011, Trondheim, NO
Selected Group Exhibitions, grants and commissions
2017
GREENLIGHTDISTRICT, Kunsthall Grenland, Porsgrunn, NO
2016
Repair: Potensial - Tegnebiennalen 2016, ROM for kunst og arkitektur, Oslo, NO
Commission: Munkerud skole, Oslo, NO
2015
Belle Haleine Der Duft der Kunst, Museum Tinguely Basel, CH
Commission: Åsveien skole og ressurssenter, Trondheim, NO
2014
National grant for artists, 5-year working grant, NO
Ingrid Lindbäck Langaards grant , NO
2013
Go With the Flø 2013 - Damien Hirst/Kristoffer Myskja, Studio Hugo Opdal, Flø, NO
Kristoffer Myskja / Kristine Roald Sandøy, Kunstnersenteret Møre og Romsdal, NO
LEIK - Sommarutstillinga '13, Seljord kunstforening, Seljord, NO
NOR 13 - Lydbasert kunst, Akershus kunstsenter, Lillestrøm, NO
Commission: Kuben yrkesarena, Oslo, NO
Commission: Osterøy VGS (Highschool), Osterøy, NO
2012
Game of Life, Kristiansand Kunsthall, Kristiansand, NO
The Unseen - The Fourth Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, PRC -denied
paticipation by the Chinese Government
Billedkunstnernes vederlagsfond, 2 year grant, NO
2011
AUTOMATA A CAPPELLA, Galerie Mario Mazzoli, Berlin, DE
I Walk the Line - ULTIMA festival, The Norwegian Opera & Ballet / KHiO, Oslo, NO
Vi prøver å planlegge det helt perfekt, Ingensteds, Oslo, NO
Give mE Your Eyes, Kunstverein Køln Mulheim, Cologne, DE
Measure for Measure, CENTRAL BOOKING (Gallery II), New York, US
Ingrid Lindbäck Langaards grant, NO
2010
In your Face!, Gallery 7011, Trondheim, NO
META.MORF 2010 - New.Brave.World! - Gråmølna, Trondheim, NO
Tegnebiennale 2010 - Lines on the Move, Momentum Kunsthall, Moss, NO
Wenche Gulbransen og Kristoffer Myskja, Galleri Kunst1, Sandvika, NO
Commission: Det norske oljeselskap ASA, Trondheim, NO
VIDA 13.0 Art Award, Honorary Mention, NO
2009
Sonic Sunrises - Nordic Contemporary Art, Titanik Gallery, Turku, FI
Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR grant show 2009, Oslo Kunstforening, Oslo, NO
Young & Sound, Ciant Gallery, Praha, CZ
The Norwegian State Exhibition 09, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, NO
Residency: SUMU - Turku, FI
Anne and Jacob Weidemanns grant, NO
National grant for artists, 3-year working grant for younger/newly established artists, NO
2008
Electrohype, Malmö Konsthall, Malmö, S
Magiske systemer, Tromsø Kunstforening, Tromsø, NO
Kunstakademiets avgangsutstilling, Stenersenmuseet, Oslo, NO
Hør, Akershus Kunstnersenter, Lillestrøm, NO
Ingrid Lindbäck Langaards grant, NO
The Governments Miscellaneous grant, NO
2007
Juleutstilling, Lydgalleriet, Bergen
Obergeschoss Dritter Finger Rechts, Norwegen Show, DE
Ballhaus Ost 3. Etage, Berlin, DE
The Norwegian State Exhibition 07 - Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, DE
Ingrid Lindbäck Langaards grant, NO
2006
FIGUR!, Trøndelag senter for samtidskunst, Trondheim, NO
7011 avd. Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Vestfossen, NO
The Norwegian State Exhibition 06 - Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, NO
The Norwegian Shipowners Association prize, The Norwegian State Exhibition, NO
Intravision prize for best electronic artwork, The Norwegian State Exhibition, NO
2005
Turbulence, Galleri KIT, Trondheim, NO
The Annual Trøndelag Exhibition 2005, NO
Trøndelag Senter for Samtidskunst, Trondheim, NO
Kristoffer Myskja, Splitting the mercury drop in order to find balance, 2013
mercury, glass, plastics, motor, magnet, steel, 45 h x 22 x 26 cm, Ed. 3
Kristoffer Myskja, Governors, 2013
various metals, rubber belts, motor, 24 h x 30 x 10 cm, Ed.6+AP
Kristoffer Myskja, Covering Up Gold, 2012
gold, cotton strings, various other materials, 65 x 128 x 50 cm
Kristoffer Myskja, Volubilis, 2011
Commissioned by Det norske oljeselskap for their headquarters in Trondheim
Kristoffer Myskja, Giving back to Reservoir, 2010
mixed media, size variable
Kristoffer Myskja, Interference Machine, 2009
water, various metals, cotton, motor, 30 x 30 x 28 cm + pedestal 120 cm
Kristoffer Myskja, Interference Machine, 2009
water, various metals, cotton, motor, 30 x 30 x 28 cm + pedestal 120 cm
Kristoffer Myskja, Machine that uses a thousand years to shut itself down, 2009
brass, drive belts, motor, steel, solar panel, MDF base 37,5 x 24,5 x 25 cm
Kristoffer Myskja, SmokingMachine, 2007
cigarettes, various metals, filament, motor, 23 x 15 x 20 cm, Ed.6+AP
Kristoffer Myskja, The sound of...(The sound of Cotton, The sound of coffee, The sound of Gold),
2006
various mechanical parts, size variable