A Kassen is a Danish artist group known for their conceptual and often humorous approach to art. They work across a variety of media, including sculpture, installation, performance, and photography. A Kassen’s artistic practice primarily explores the relationship between form and content. Starting with an object or element – whether it’s an everyday item, a material like bronze, or something more ephemeral such as a puddle or a reflection – A Kassen engages in acts of construction and deconstruction. Through reinterpretation and re-contextualization, they challenge our preconceived notions of the phenomena in question.
Through their manipulations, A Kassen creates works intended to be viewed within the context of art and aesthetics. The question is not so much about what happens when these pieces are placed in an institutional art setting, but rather how our perception changes when we view ordinary or mundane objects through the lens of ‘art.’ In this process, the spectator plays a crucial role. We are conceived as an integral part of the artwork, becoming interpreters who add layers of meaning and understanding, thus reshaping the narratives of each piece.
Graduates of the Royal Academy of Denmark, Copenhagen-based A Kassen have been collaborating since 2004. Since then, they have exhibited extensively. They have had solo shows with the National Gallery of Iceland (Reykjavik), and Den Frie (Copenhagen), Sorø Kunstmuseum (Sorø) and KØS (Køge). A Kassen have shown at ARoS (Aarhus), ARTIPELAG (Gustavsberg), Copenhagen Contemporary (Copenhagen), UMOCA (Salt Lake City), and the Museum of Mexico City (Mexico City) among many others. They participated in the 2009 Momentum Nordic Biennial for Contemporary Art. In the last ten years, A Kassen have created many permanent installations worldwide, notably at Kistefos Museum sculpture park (Jevnaker), the Danish embassy in New Delhi (India), and in the cities of Aarhus (Denmark), Vejle (Denmark) and Lund (Sweden) among others.
