Body of Shit

Body of Shit is a painting augmented by everyday objects and materials. Here are splotches of reddish-brown against a background of blue-grey paint, overlaid with masking tape which in turn bears writing done in marker. An extension cord is placed next to the painting. In Henrik Olesen’s work, body and technology are not far apart. The title points to the basic functions of the body. The extension cord is plugged into its own socket – perhaps a sexual symbol? Here, however, sexuality manifests as a kind of self-pollination: the cord forms a closed circuit. In terms of theme and materials, the work revolves around forms of abundance that have been under-examined in history and visual culture, such as sexual activity which is not aimed at reproduction (the closed circuit of the extension cord) and trashy everyday materials left over as waste in our consumer society. The title forges a link between the cheap materials and what is excreted from the body: tears, mucus, vomit, urine – and faeces. In Olesen’s art, what is expelled and cast out is paraded as products of human existence. Something that is always present, but to which culture can make us blind (50 Favorites in the SMK Collection).