Nu ser du verden gennem vores øjne

(Now you see the world through our eyes)

Transparent solarfilm and etched glass foil
Varied dimensions
2024

I am happy to present this new public work, I did at Borgernes Hus (The Citizens’ House) in Odense (DK).
Borgernes Hus is run by the municipality and holds the central library of Odense, the citizens service center and the local integration office.

The project consists of a text and 5 sets of eyes, mounted on the windows of 2 floors in the building, pointing to Østre Stations Vej and the railway.

The british curator and writer Jes Fernie wrote this small text for the piece:

“These eyes, looking at us as we move around Borgernes Hus, what do they want? Are they protecting us, or tracking us? Do they encourage us to look at others, to make contact with our fellow human beings, or do they alienate us, shoring up our increasingly fragile, paranoid sense of self?

In applying these simple, genderless graphics to the windows of the building, Kristian Blomstrøm Johansson has turned a public institution into an all-seeing creature that is at once unsettling and intriguing.

The title of the work comes from a gravestone near the artist’s home and begs more questions: Who is speaking? Is this declaratory, insistent statement celebratory or vindictive? Positioned here, in the library, the ‘our’ could refer to citizens who use the building, the municipality that controls the building, or the books that inhabit the building.”

The project is part of my education at the Anne Marie Carl Nielsen Program for art in public spaces at The Funen Art academy

Documentation photos by Brian Kure