ALT GÅR BRAC A T A L O G U E - M A Y 2 0 1 6

CONTENTS

ALT GÅR BRA ...............................................................................................6Brief Presentation

EVENT EXHIBITS .......................................................................................8Bergen Kjøtt, Palais de Tokyo, USF

PUBLISHING & PRINTMAKING .............................................................28Books, Prints, Gestetner Mimeograph

HECTOGRAPHS .........................................................................................42Gelatin & Carbon

TOUT VA BIEN SERIES .............................................................................46Conversations on Arts & Politics

APPENDIX I ................................................................................................51Alt Går Bra Publications

APPENDIX II ...............................................................................................55Tout Va Bien Series

Alt Går Bra, Victor Charlie Report: Post-exhibition Catalogue, 2016. Front cover. See full description in Appendix.

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ALT GÅR BRA

ALT GÅR BRABrief Presentation

Alt Går Bra (AGB) is a group of visual artists researching the intersections between art and politics through exhibits, performances, curated events, prints and books.

Created in 2015, AGB has presented its work at institutions including the Palais de Tokyo, and it curates a series with international guests at Bergen Kunsthall/Landmark.

AGB has received support from the Norwegian Arts Council, Norwegian Visual Artists Association, Fritt Ord, the Bergen City Council, and Pro Helvetia.

______________NB:* Dimensions are in centimiters (and inches); height precedes width precedes depth.** Non-credited photos by Alt Går Bra.*** Cover: Alt Går Bra, Shield Spiral, installation, handmade mimeograph prints on textile, tent poles, wood, 220 x 350 (98 x 137). Detail. Kringsatt av Fiender, The Shield of Achilles from Homer to Bobbitt, Solo Show, Bergen Kjøtt, April 2016. Photo Bjarte Bjørkum.

Alt Går Bra, Kringsatt av Fiender, The Shield of Achilles from Homer to Bobbitt, Solo Show, Bergen Kjøtt, April 2016.Photo Bjarte Bjørkum

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EVENT EXHIBITS

EVENT EXHIBITS Bergen Kjøtt, Palais de Tokyo, USF

AGB combines tangible and intangible work at event-exhibits.Installations, prints, videos, and other tangible work set a framework for

performances and conversations with invited guests.AGB has presented events at venues including Palais de Tokyo and Bergen

Kjøtt.See Appendix I for a list of event-exhibits and venues.

Alt Går Bra, Homeric Dance, performance, Kringsatt av Fiender, The Shield of Achilles from Homer to Bobbitt, Bergen Kjøtt, April 2016.Photo Bjarte Bjørkum

Alt Går Bra, Kringsatt av Fiender, The Shield of Achilles from Homer to Bobbitt, Solo Show, Bergen Kjøtt, April 2016.General view of exhibit. Photo Bjarte Bjørkum

Alt Går Bra, Shield Spiral, installation, handmade mimeograph prints on textile, tent poles, wood, 220 x 350 (98 x 137).Kringsatt av Fiender, The Shield of Achilles from Homer to Bobbitt, Solo Show, Bergen Kjøtt, April 2016.

Alt Går Bra, Shield Wall installation, five 120 x 80 binding cloth and papier chiffon panels with cutout drawings on each side, 120 x 600 (47 x 236).Kringsatt av Fiender, The Shield of Achilles from Homer to Bobbitt, Solo Show, Bergen Kjøtt, April 2016. Alt Går Bra, Shield Wall detail.

Alt Går Bra, Kringsatt av Fiender, The Shield of Achilles from Homer to Bobbitt, Solo Show, Bergen Kjøtt, April 2016.General view of exhibit. Photo Bjarte Bjørkum

Alt Går Bra, Le Frivole et le Serieux, performance, Solo Event, Palais de Tokyo, March 2016.Photo Eric Merour

Alt Går Bra, Le Frivole et le Serieux, performance, Solo Event, Palais de Tokyo, March 2016.Photo Eric Merour

Alt Går Bra, panel discussion at book launch Agnes Nedregård Performance Works, The Big Toe, Solo Event, Palais de Tokyo, March 2016.Photo Eric Merour

Alt Går Bra, Hole in the Leader, interactive installation, acrylic paint and black marker on two plastic curtains, 180 x 400 (42 x 200).Victor Charlie, Solo Show, USF, April 2016.Photo Bjarte Bjørkum

Alt Går Bra, Radicalization Test, interactive performance, Victor Charlie, Solo Show, USF, April 2016.Photo Bjarte Bjørkum

Alt Går Bra, Og Bøkene de Bruker Vi Som Dasspapir!, performance, Victor Charlie, Solo Show, USF, April 2016.Photo Bjarte Bjørkum

Alt Går Bra, Shrine, installation, ens, pencils and markers of different sizes and types; paper banners handwritten/painted with markers, acrylic paint and spray paint; flowers; candles; black and white video with sound displayed on iPad based on original footage by Jean-Luc Godard, P50x200x200 cmYtringsfrihet Positive, wall piece, letters cutout from newspapers pages on wall, 40x700 cm Victor Charlie, Solo Show, USF, April 2016.Photo Bjarte Bjørkum

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PUBLISHING & PRINTMAKING

Alt Går Bra, Gestetner 366, 2016.Handmade mimeograph print on paper, 22 x 30 (8.6 x 11.8). Featuring instruction manual’s drawing of AGB’s Gestetner 366 printing machine.

PUBLISHING & PRINTMAKINGBooks, Prints, Gestetner Mimeograph

With a studio dedicated to mimeography and hectography, AGB sets to revive those printing methods and reevaluate their role in history.

Described by T. Adorno as the “only appropriate and inconspicuous means of dissemination,” from the original mimeographed version of Dialectic of Enlightenment to the Black Panthers, mimeography has played a major role in alternative culture. Yet, the mimeograph’s vast potential for artistic exploration and contestation is hardly remembered today.

Alt Går Bra produces handmade prints, books, and other publications using a series of obsolete devices in order to keep the original way to produce mimeographs–whenever possible.

See Appendix II for a list of books and publications.The prints are produced from a master made either by scratching or burning a

stencils. This master is printed on Gestetner machines models 366 and 466. These machines have two drums, a silkscreen, and two rollers. All prints feature unique colors. Color is obtained by mixing the primary colors simultaneously as printing is done–no colors are premixed.

Wax stencils are scratched using different methods: drawing with a stylus, typing with a typewriter, or printing with a dot matrix printer. Designed by Gestetner especially to draw on wax stencils, the styli are precision-tools with different shapes suitable for a wide range of traces. AGB collects these styli, currently counting with over thirty different models. AGB draws directly on the stencils with the aid of the Gestescope, a lightbox produced by Gestetner specifically for drawing on wax stencils. AGB also uses typewriters and old-fashioned dot matrix printers on wax stencils.

AGB also uses stencils with a special coating, made to be burned by the ancestor of nowadays scanners called Gestefax. This machine has two cylinders with a lens and a sparking needle to read the original and burn the master respectively. Since these stencils, just as most of the items listed in this description, are no longer being produced, AGB also uses Risograph stencils and a modified Risograph machine to produce the masters.

Alt Går Bra, Victor Charlie Report: Post-exhibition Catalogue, 2016. Inner page.

Alt Går Bra, Victor Charlie Report: Post-exhibition Catalogue, 2016. Inner pages.

Alt Går Bra, Hephaestus, 2016.Handmade mimeograph print on paper, color, 22 x 30 (8.6 x 11.8).

Alt Går Bra, Rooster Fight, 2016.Handmade mimeograph print on paper, color, 22 x 30 (8.6 x 11.8).

Alt Går Bra, Print Series I, 2016.Handmade mimeograph print on paper, color, 22 x 30 (8.6 x 11.8).

Alt Går Bra, Print Series II, 2016.Handmade mimeograph print on paper, color, 22 x 30 (8.6 x 11.8).

Alt Går Bra, Trykksak N. 1, 2015.Front cover, mimeographed publication.

Alt Går Bra, Trykksak N. 2, 2015.Inner page, mimeographed publication.

Gestescope at AGB studio.Gestetner 366 at AGB studio.

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HECTOGRAPHS

HECTOGRAPHSGelatin & Carbon

Alt Går Bra produces hectographs on paper. With the intention of exploring obsolete printing technologies, AGB works with one of the simplest ways to produce a print: hectography.

A printing method using carbon paper to produce a master on a gelatin pad, hectography is supposed to reproduce up to one hundred copies–as indicated by its name.

Few artists have used hectography in their work, notable exceptions being E. Munch and the Russian Futurists. One of the reasons being that this method produces short-lived copies, mainly if prints are exposed to light.

AGB is currently producing a fully hectographed book experimenting with the idea of ephemeral prints.

Producing masters with a variety of methods, AGB uses gelatin pads and different ink formulas to produce hectographs.

Alt Går Bra, Shield on a Cross 2016, installation, hectographic prints on paper, wood, 220 x 220 (98 x 98). Print detail.Print produced in performance consisting in live hectographic printing at AGB’s solo exhibit Kringsatt av Fiender, The Shield of Achilles from Homer to Bobbitt, Bergen Kjøtt, April 2016.

Alt Går Bra, Shield on a Cross 2016, installation, hectographic prints on paper, wood, 220 x 220 (98 x 98). Printing materials at AGB’s solo exhibit Kringsatt av Fiender, The Shield of Achilles from Homer to Bobbitt, Bergen Kjøtt, April 2016.

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TOUT VA BIEN SERIES

Alt Går Bra, Gestetner 366, 2016.Handmade mimeograph print on paper, 22 x 30 (8.6 x 11.8). Featuring instruction manual’s drawing of AGB’s Gestetner 366 printing machine.

TOUT VA BIEN SERIESConversations on Arts & Politics

AGB researches the intersections between art and politics through a series with invited guests at Bergen Kunsthall Landmark.

International guests including artist Thomas Hirschhorn and political philosopher Chantal Mouffe present their projects in dialogue with local guests and the public.

See Appendix II for a program of the series.

Alt Går Bra’s Tout Va Bien Series, Thomas Hirschhorn and Agnes Nedregård, Bergen Kunsthall Landmark, May 2016.Photo Bjørn Johansen

Alt Går Bra, Rooster Fight, 2016.Handmade mimeograph print on paper, color, 22 x 30 (8.6 x 11.8).

Alt Går Bra’s Tout Va Bien Series, Thomas Hirschhorn’s presentation, Bergen Kunsthall Landmark, May 2016.Photo Bjørn Johansen

Alt Går Bra’s Tout Va Bien Series, Chto Delat’s presentation (Dmitry Vilensky), Bergen Kunsthall Landmark, October 2015.

Alt Går Bra’s Tout Va Bien Series, IRWIN (NSK Neue Slowenische Kunst) presentation (Borut Vogelnik), Bergen Kunsthall Landmark, December 2015.

Photo Bjørn Johansen

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APPENDIX IAlt Går Bra Publications

APPENDIX IAlt Går Bra Publications

Kringsatt av Fiender: The Shield of Achilles from Homer to Bobbitt (forthcoming, August 2016).A 120-page art book fully produced by AGB including design, editing, printing, binding and publishing.Catalogue of exhibit Kringsatt av Fiender: The Shield of Achilles from Homer to Bobbitt with a text by Knut Ove Arntzen.Twenty copies (hardcover 30x22cm) printed on a two-drum Gestetner machines 366 and 466.

The Mimeograph (forthcoming, September 2016).A 150-page research art book fully produced by AGB including design, editing, printing, binding and publishing.Book surveying mimeograph printing technology with a focus on its uses by artists, philosophers and activists. Edited by AGB with articles contributed by experts in mimeograph technology, philosophers, conservationists, and users from the USA, Italy, and Norway.Twenty copies (hardcover 30x22cm) printed on a two-drum Gestetner machines 366 and 466.

The Ephemeral Book (forthcoming, September 2016).A 30-page art book fully produced by AGB including design, editing, printing, binding and publishing.Hectographed book reflecting upon the concept of death in Heidegger in juxtaposition to Marxist dialectics.Hectography is perhaps the most simple and least expensive printed method. Using a pad of gelatine and carbon paper, some fifty copies can be reproduced from a master.Twenty copies (hardcover 30x22cm).

2016

Victor Charlie Report: Post-exhibition Catalogue. By Alt Går Bra Bergen, Norway: Alt Går Bra, 2016 Edition of 30 Hardcover, 30 x 22 cm. (11.8 x 8.6”), 104 pages.Conception, design, printing, and binding by Alt Går Bra. Manually printed on two-drum/silkscreen Gestetner machines (models 366 and 466). Original colors produced by hand inking primary colors. Text block printed on 80g Clairefontaine Trophée steel gray copy paper. Body copy set in 11 Minion Pro and titles in 40 Expressway. Bound in quarter cloth, modified Bradel binding, hand-drilled and handsewn textblock.Designed using US Army military forms, the catalogue experiments with analogue printing technologies and a militaristic style of documenting an art event.

A Moi le Plaire, a Toi le Faire (forthcoming, June 2016).A 60-page art book revisiting the ten-year career of visual artist Agnes Nedregård with texts by Laura Cull, Isabelle Barberis, and Tommy Olsson. The publication is a response to the 2015 book Agnes Nedregård, Performance Works: The Big Toe (Les presses du réel).The publication is fully produced by AGB including design, editing, printing, binding and publishing.Twenty copies (hardcover 30x22cm) printed on a two-drum Gestetner machines 366 and 466.

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APPENDIX I

2015

Trykksak N. 2. Bergen, Norway: Alt Går Bra, November 2015 Edition of 100 Unbound, 30 x 22 cm. (11.8 x 8.6”), 15 pages.Conception, design, printing, and binding by Alt Går Bra. Manually printed on a two-drum/silkscreen Gestetner 366 machine. Original colors produced by hand inking primary colors. Theme: Paris November 13th, 2015. Monthly 15-20 page publications exploring intersections between art and politics.

Trykksak N. 1Bergen, Norway: Alt Går Bra, October 2015 Edition of 100 Unbound, 30 x 22 cm. (11.8 x 8.6”), 15 pages.Conception, design, printing, and binding by Alt Går Bra. Manually printed on a two-drum/silkscreen Gestetner 366 machine. Original colors produced by hand inking primary colors. Theme: Air France workers protest.Monthly 15-20 page publications exploring intersections between art and politics.

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Tout Va Bien Series

APPENDIX IITout Va Bien Series

2016

19/05/2016, Tout Va Bien Series: guest Thomas Hirschhorn, Bergen Kunsthall/Landmark, Bergen, Norway

05/07/2016, Tout Va Bien Series: guest Chantal Mouffe, Bergen Kunsthall/Landmark, Bergen, Norway

22/09/2016, Tout Va Bien Series: guest Le Peuple Qui Manque, Bergen Kunsthall/Landmark, Bergen, Norway

20/10/2016, Tout Va Bien Series: guest Domenico Losurdo, Bergen Kunsthall/Landmark, Bergen, Norway

2015

3/12/2015, Tout Va Bien Series: guests IRWIN/NSK (Neue Slowenische Kunst) and Zdenka Badovinac (MG + MSUM), Bergen Kunsthall/Landmark, Bergen, Norway

27/10/2015, Tout Va Bien Series: guest Chto delat?, Bergen Kunstall/Landmark, Bergen, Norway

Alt Går BraBergen, Norway, May 2016

www.altgarbra.orgaltgarbra@gmail.com