At Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art we have the unique opportunity to present the internationally acknowledged video artist Mika Rottenberg’s video installation Cheese
As an observer of Mika Rottenberg’s works, one is struck by the fact that it is always women with various physical oddities who play the leading roles of her tales. And it is precisely because of their peculiar appearances that they are chosen for these parts. Typically, they are tremendously overweight, extremely tall, very muscular, have long fingernails or, as in Cheese, have unusually long hair. Rottenberg is inspired by stories, in which women use their bodies as commercial products – especially women who advertise their qualities online.
The video installation Cheese portrays a society of women in rural environments, who, amongst other things, work with cheese production. In this work, Rottenberg creates a humoristic insight into an otherwise closed farming community, in which they live from hand to mouth. Here, the viewer follows six women dressed in virginal, white dresses, who live and work on a farm under primitive, yet idyllic conditions, surrounded by bleating goats, crowing roosters and jumping rabbits. The film’s universe consists of a circular, labyrinth-like home created by rough wooden constructions, which will be physically present in the exhibition. All of the six women have beautiful and extremely long hair, which they utilise in all kinds of ways; for example for luring their animals back into their fold. From their hair, they extract milk from which they create miraculous remedies. Cheese has earlier been exhibited at The Whitney Museum in New York.
This exhibition follows Den Frie’s wish to present our guests with new and interesting perspectives on current subjects. Thus, we wish to host exhibitions that give our guests the opportunity to experience international contemporary art, taking its starting point in the possibilities and challenges of exchanging ideas, information and ways of being in a globalised world.
