Cultural History of the Avant-Garde in the Nordic Countries 1950-1975

Tania Ørum, cand. mag. (1975), is associate professor at the University of Copenhagen. She has published monographs and articles on modernism and avant-garde and is General editor of A Cultural History of the Avant-Garde in the Nordic Countries, a subseries of Avant-Garde Critical Studies (Brill | Rodopi). Jesper Olsson, PhD (Stockholm 2005) is associate professor at the Department of Culture and Communication, Linköping University, Sweden, where he leads the research group "Literature, Media History, and Information Cultures". He has published extensively on literature, media, and the avant-garde.

“The subseries’ emphasis on cultural history, rather than a narrower focus on art history, […] is particularly apt in a Nordic context, where a distinct set of model welfare states emerged in the twentieth century that helped generate funding, space, resources, and networks for, and public debates on, experimental arts, as these were deemed vital to the health and welfare of a modern democratic society. […] While the scope and heterogeneity of the volume is imposing, its thoughtful organization into seven coherent sections makes it an accessible, dynamic, and useful scholarly reference work for anyone with an interest in avant-garde movements in, from, and including the Nordic region.” - Ursula Linqvist, Gustav Adolphus College, USA, in: Recherche Littéraire/Literary Research, 2017, pp. 193-198"Serien A Cultural History of the Avant-Garde in the Nordic Countries er utrolig viktig, både i seg selv og som en del av en økt oppmerksomhet rundt nordisk modernisme. I dette andre bindet, som strekker seg fra 1950 til 1975, får vi essays om nordisk kunst fra Öyvind Fahlström til den alternative Melodi Grand Prix. Blant de 85 (!) essayene beskrives Galleri Køpcke i København, Pistolteatern i Stockholm, De skandinaviske situasjonistene (selvfølgelig), Morten Krohgs periode som intendant på Kunstnernes Hus i Oslo, Lene Adler Pedersen og Bjørn Nørgaards kvinnelige kristus-performance på Børsen i København, Kjartan Slettemarks passprosjekt med portrettet til Nixon, og enormt mye annet. Når de to siste bindene foreligger vil vesentlige deler av det 20. århundres nordiske avantgarde være beskrevet i dette bokverket. [...] Den virkelige revolusjonen kommer imidlertid når dette blir pensum for kommende kunstnere og kunsthistorikere. Da vil endelig den Paris- og New York-sentrerte fortellingen om modernismen kunne erstattes med en bredere, global fortelling, der også Norden inngår." - Jonas Ekeberg, in: Kunstkritikk [www.kunstkritikk.dk/artikler/24-desember-jonas-ekeberg-2/]

• PrefaceIntroductionTania ØrumThe Post-War Avant-Garde in the Nordic Countries1. Paradigmatic Images of Scandinavia Jesper Olsson Politics & Play – The Impure Arts of Öyvind FahlströmRune GadeThe Female Christ at the Stock ExchangeTue Andersen NexøBiological Avant-Garde – Inger Christensen’s detBirgitte AnderbergImages of WomenHalldór Björn RunólfssonThe Kitchen – An Offspring of Steina and Woody Vasulka2. Cultural Politics and InstitutionsChrister EkholmThe Social Avant-Garde – The “Democratisation” of Literature in the Early 1960s in SwedenTania ØrumCulture Wars in Denmark Annika ÖhrnerThe Moderna Museet in Stockholm – The Institution and the Avant-GardeSanne Krogh GrothThe Fylkingen Concert Society, 1950–1975Tania ØrumSelf-Organisation in the Avant-Garde of the 1960sFred AnderssonÅke Hodell’s Kerberos –A Case StudyKari BrandtzægMorten Krohg and Art’s Oppositional RoleSanne Krogh GrothEMS – Elektronmusik Studio in StockholmThomas Hvid KromanSub-Publications from a Basement in Snaregade 6, Copenhagen – Arena Sub-Pub (1969–1970)Dossier/Little MagazinesÞröstur HelgasonAn Open Field of Play and Experimentation – The Little Magazine BirtingurJesper OlssonTvångs-Blandaren – Stuff in a BoxJesper OlssonRondo and Gorilla – Magazine and CalendarThomas Hvid KromannAgainst Restrictions and Exclusions – For Expansion and Inclusions – The Little Magazine ta’ (1967–1968)Thomas Hvid KromannA Time Capsule from the Sixties – The Little Magazine ta’ BOX (1969–1970)Thomas Hvid KromannIn the Service of the Revolution – The Little Magazine MAK (1969–1970)Sissel FurusethProfil 1966–1969 – Triumph and Crisis of the Collective 3. New Cultural GeographiesHarri VeivoChristian Dotremont’s Logogrammes and Logoneiges – European Avant-Garde Inspired by Lapland Anna JóhannsdóttirExile, Correspondence, Rebellion – Tracing the Interactive Relationship between Iceland and Dieter RothAnneli FuchsGalerie Køpcke – An Artist-Run Gallery in Copenhagen, 1958–1962Søren Møller SørensenAction Music! – Nam June Paik in Scandinavia, 1961Árni Heimir IngólfssonClothing Irons and Whisky Bottles – Creating an Icelandic Musical Avant-GardeDanielle KvaranErró, or the Porousness of Borders Mikkel Bolt RasmussenThe Situationist Offensive in Scandinavia Halldór Björn RunólfssonSÚM – The Flux in IcelandPeter van der MeijdenFluxus, Eric Andersen and the Communist EastJanna KantolaMaking Choices – Debatable Translations and Publication Policies of Finnish Cultural Magazines Aikalainen, Parnasso and Uusi Kirjallisuuslehti in the 1960s4. New Technologies and New MediaJohn SundholmChance and Play, or Marvellous Machines – A Forgotten Swedish Film Avant-GardeJesper OlssonRadiophonic Poetry and a Blind Movie – Öyvind Fahlström’s Sound ArtTania ØrumThe Medium is the Message – Danish Radio Experiments in the 1960sJonas IngvarssonWhat’s Wrong with Billy Spafon?Tania ØrumConcrete Poetry as a Sign of Technological Change in SocietyJesper OlssonCollaborators in Art and Technology – The Case of Billy KlüverJonas IngvarssonThe Case[y] of HusbergTanja TieksoArt Has Opened People’s Eyes, Music People’s Ears, and Computers People’s Minds – Erkki Kurenniemi on Music and TechnologyMikko Ojanen and Kai LassfolkUniversity of Helsinki Electronic Music Studio – Founding and Early DevelopmentJesper OlssonThe New Monument – Experimental TV and RemediationTania ØrumABCinema and Super 8 TechnologyKari Yli-AnnalaVisions Seen through Felt Boots – “The Carriers of the Fire” of Avant-Garde Art in the 1950s and 1970s in FinlandThomas Hvid KromannArtists’ Books in the 1960sTania ØrumTelephone ArtTeddy HultbergFylkingen’s Text-Sound Festivals, 1968–1974Erling KullbergThe Detested Interval Music – On Per Nørgård’s Calendar Music as Interval Signal on TV5. Performative StrategiesJesper Olsson“Hätila ragulpr på fåtskliaben” – Conceiving of Concrete PoetryJesper OlssonConcrete Poetry as a Score for Performance – Bengt Emil Johnson’s Old Man DrowningPeter van der MeijdenThe Festum Fluxorum in Copenhagen, 23–28 November 1962Tania ØrumTo Play To-DayMerja HottinenExperiment, Scam and Children’s Games – The Finnish Media on Ken Dewey’s Happenings in Finland, 1963–1964Per RingbyPistolteatern – Avant-Garde Performance and Political TheatreAnnika ÖhrnerYvonne Rainer and Robert Morris – An Evening of Talking and Dancing, 1964Erik Exe ChristoffersenOdin Teatret –¬ Between Tradition and the Avant-GardeMagnús Þór ÞorbergssonLeiksmiðjan – Collaborating on a New TheatreRasmus GraffAsger Jorn’s Work in The Archive of the Revolution in HavanaKarsten Wind MeyhoffShowtime! Notes on the Performance Practice of Per HøjholtBirgitte AnderbergPerforming Feminism – Kirsten JustesenMette MortensenA Borderline Case – Facial Politics in Kjartan Slettemark’s The Passport6. Interventions into Everyday LifeMikkel Bolt RasmussenRaping the Whole World in a Warm Embrace of Fascination – Drakabygget’s Anti-Authoritarian Artistic Endeavours Sven-Olov Wallenstein1966 – Thinking the CityLars Bang LarsenTrue Rulers of Their Own Realm – Political subjectivisation in Modellen – En modell för ett kvalitativt samhälleJonas (J) MagnussonJarl Hammarberg’s Concrete Poetry and Collective BooksIngvild KrogvigLinguistic Leakage in the Landscape – Early Land Art in NorwayLars Bang LarsenKanonklubben – The Oslo Trip and The Garden Christine Buhl AndersenThe Avant-Garde in Public Space – Two Danish Examples Elisabeth Friisand and and – A Device of One’s Own – Reproductive Parataxis in Rex, Thorup and ÅkessonMalene WoltmannChristiana – Utopia Realised? Stig Jarl and Laura Luise SchultzA Sensuous Dramaturgy of Intervention – Solvognen (The Sun Chariot), Copenhagen, 1969–1983Ingvild KrogvigViggo Andersen’s Vigelandsinstallasjon – The History of a Forgotten Anti-Monument7. Avant-Garde between Market and CountercultureVibeke Petersen GetherGunnar Aagaard Andersen – Commercial Design and Experimental Art Jens Tang KristensenAngli Avant-Gardism – Paul Gadegaard’s Art Project in Herning, DenmarkLars BukdahlVagn is Also a Bit of a Soft Drink – Vagn Steen’s Advertisements for Himself and Concrete Poetry, 1964–1969Jesper OlssonThe Artist on Holiday, or “L’art pour l’or”, or Some Conceptual Investments of Carl Fredrik ReuterswärdAlf ArvidssonFrom Avant-Garde to Pop Culture to Alternative Scenes – The Case of Two Swedish Bands, Blå Tåget and Träd, Gräs & StenarHarri VeivoEveryday High and Low – Finnish Avant-Garde Poetry of the 1960sNavigations in a Rapidly Changing SocietyTania ØrumThe Rose Campaign – John Davidsen’s Appropriation of Commercial FormatsLars Bang LarsenPUSS 1968–1973 Tania ØrumCountercultureBenedikt Hjartarson“A Furious Girl from Rome” – Róska and the Mythography of Avant-Garde BohemianismTrond Haugen“From Everyone to Everyone” – The Countercultural Little Magazine Dikt & dattDavid ThyrénThe Alternative Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden, 1975Abstracts