October 19 – November 11 2018

MELK is proud to present the first solo show in Norway by Swedish artist Carl Oliver Ander.
Photographs are just like accidents. Similar to a car crash – they stop the progress of movement and time.

Looking at a photograph, we’re presented with a scene. We use it to investigate, to search for traces and clues of what has happened in the past. Trying to find logical reasons and a timeline to understand what has resulted in the photographed situation. Inherent in the photographic medium is a belive that what is pictured have occurred. Historically it’s been used as a medium of proof of existence.

Using photography as proof of something origins from its close relationship with reality. It renders the world in a highly accurate way, strikingly similar to humans optical perception of the world. But just like any relationship, it is not an absolute one. It can at any point in time change its direction and become something else – or even dissolve completely.

The show Accidents and Aftermath consists of 11 photographic works that together deals with our expectation of the photographic image. Can we be sure of what we have in front of us?

In the works, photography’s relationship to reality is put to test. After the shutter of a camera has been released it starts a process of aftermath. A process that not only include the photographer in matters of editing and presentation. It also includes us, the viewers and our discussion around it. Our own perception and values determines what to make out of a photograph.

Carl Oliver Ander (b.1991, Lindköping, Sweden) is a 2018 BFA graduate from the Valand Academy, Gothenburg, Sweden. With a background as a documentary photographer, Ander’s personal work is focused on finding other ways of telling and seeing with photography than the typical. The work is trying to replace the questions of ”where” and ”when” with the ”how” and ”what”, when we look at a photograph. He does so by working against rather than along the traditional rules and conventions of photography. The exhibition Accidents And Aftermath is his first solo show in Norway.

The exhibition is supported by Arts Council Norway and The Swedish Arts Grants Committee