Shouts from Silence
Action Cushions (8–10)
Installation. 2014/2016
The installation consists of still images from a video recording of demonstrators from the Shugden Community. They were demonstrating against the Dalai Lama during his visit to Chateau Neuf in Oslo in May 2014. The organisation was demonstrating against the persecution of Dorje Shugden worshippers, who belong to a branch of Tibetan Buddhism that the Dalai Lama believes to be a cult damaging himself personally as well as Tibet’s struggle for freedom in general. The installation is an investigation of how peacefulness and activism sometimes go hand in hand.
The Action Cushions were painted according to the Buddhist monk Chôgyam Trungpa’s method (Dharma Art). He describes how art should be made in a state of mind that is completely “non-aggressive”. This peaceful mind is the same as the mind that feels other people’s suffering; hence it’s both the foundation for artistic creation and social engagement. Dharma Art can be practised as a form of automatic painting, or action painting. Action Cushions take the shape of meditation cushions in order to bring together the concepts of action and contemplation.
The works of art were originally produced on commission for the Henie Onstad Art Centre in 2014 as part of the DNB Savings Bank Foundation (Kunstgaven).
Artist's Bio:
Marte Johnslien (1977) is an artist based in Oslo who works mainly with sculpture and installation art. By exploring and showing the relation between spirituality, social action and abstract art, Johnslien emphasises the idea that today’s steadily increasing interest in spirituality and abstraction can also promote political and social engagement. Johnslien has recently been included in group shows at the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Art in Oslo and the 12th Havana Biennial in Cuba. She is represented by Galleri Riis in Oslo.