Goldin+Senneby

Abstract formations, a bit like feathers, on crumpled paper. The same pattern, in a monumental format, only made from resin. What’s this all about?

Artist duo Goldin+Senneby (Simon Goldin and Jakob Senneby) have dedicated their long-time collaboration to exploring and tunnelling the depths of the abstract world–that is, the global, mercurial world of finance, with all its intangible currencies and final destinations on remote islands. In more recent years, these explorations have brought them into contact with artificial intelligence and big data as used by companies to covertly collect our health data through the breadcrumbs we leave behind, found connections from there to the world of pharma, medical history, and the frailties and illnesses of the human body. What we’re seeing on these crumpled bits of paper is what is known as frottages (a technique in which a crayon is rubbed against paper held over an irregular surface) of pine tree trunks that have been tapped for resin. Here, a special technique has been used to extract the resin, which is the raw material for making tar, a good that was once a significant Swedish export. Tar was used to plug leaks in ships during Sweden’s involvement in the European wars of conquest. Their work Multiple Scars (2021) seems to draw a line between the forest as a place of healing, its pecuniary role in the global economy, and the resin itself, the actual purpose of which is to protect the external, living parts of a tree trunk.

Goldin+Senneby are represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and Moderna Museet in Stockholm. They have exhibited at CFHILL on several previous occasions, including a solo exhibition (Pool of Life) in 2020.