Else Marie Hagen
Else Marie Hagen works conceptually with photography, objects and perception.
© Else Marie Hagen, Cover, 2010, installation
The challenge that lies in spatiality and site-specific possibilities is an essential element that comes strikingly to view
in the installation Cover from 2010. The space is dominated by a shiny pink podium covered with paper which is torn at one end. It is formed in the
shape of an L and covered in paper of the same color. At each end of the podium photographs are hanging, partly or completely
packaged in the same pink paper that is wrapped around the podium.
One photograph depicts the same podium with a model teetering on its edge, indicating that this podium is a catwalk. The model
stands with eyes closed, clothed in disheveled layers. This creates a measure of disquiet in the otherwise serene, pastel
pink and flesh-toned surroundings. We notice that the subtle tearing in both the models clothes and the paper on the catwalk
creates a tense conflict between what is covered and what is torn. The combination of photographs and sculptural objects which
both relate to each other on several levels, affords the viewer possibilities for relating to Hagen’s dualities and reflections
of well-known themes.
Hagen employs the same devices that the fashion industry uses in its subtle advertising and staged shows. Our perception of
ourselves as human beings is strongly qualified by this industry’s insistent, but nevertheless subliminal communication in
society. Else Marie Hagen was born in Stavanger in 1963. She lives and works in Oslo.
Randi Godø