JENS HAANING

English below

Kabul Time

2010
Vægur / wall mounted clock
Dia 62 cm

Jens Haanings sort-hvide ur, der oprindeligt blev skabt til en placering i det offentlige rum, bærer titlen Kabul Time. Ligesom et andet kendt værk af Haaning, vejskiltet Afghanistan 5012 km, der i 2003 blev placeret i en rundkørsel i Utrecht i Holland, så kommenterer uret på den vestlige besættelse af Afghanistan, der startede i 2001 og først sluttede tyve år efter i 2021. Ved at placere et ur i Danmark, der viser klokken et andet specifikt sted i verden, får Haaning det land (og den daværende krig), der på mange her i vesten forekom(mer) langt væk, til pludselig at komme helt ind i vores egen dagligdags sfære.

Haanings brug af readymade, altså en genstand fra hverdagslivet som vi alle kender, bliver med titlerne givet helt nye kontekster og dimensioner. Pludselig er det ikke vores eget trygge hverdagsliv vi kan bruge uret (eller vejskiltet) til at orientere os i – det skaber i stedet en direkte relation til en situation, der på mange måder er svær for os her i trygge Danmark at begribe. Jens Haanings værk skaber en effektiv påmindelse om de mange liv, der lever under helt andre vilkår og strukturer end vores. I dag er det andre krige, der præger kloden, men pointen er den samme.

Placering: Foyeren

Tilbage til Kunst på Godsbanen

In English:

Jens Haaning’s black-and-white clock, which was originally created as a piece of public art, bears the title Kabul Time. Like another well-known work by Haaning, a road sign saying Afghanistan 5012 km placed in a roundabout in Utrecht in the Netherlands in 2003, the clock comments on the Western occupation of Afghanistan, which began in 2001 and only ended twenty years later, in 2021. By placing a clock here in Denmark which shows the time in another, specific place elsewhere in the world, Haaning makes a country (and a war) which seems/seemed far away to many here in the West feel suddenly present as it enters our own everyday sphere.

Haaning uses readymades, meaning familiar objects from everyday life, which are transformed by the titles, taking on completely new contexts and dimensions. Suddenly, we no longer use the clock (or road sign) to orientate ourselves in our own safe everyday life – rather, the object forges a direct connection to a situation that can be very difficult to comprehend for those of us who live in safety in Denmark. Jens Haaning’s work is an effective reminder of the many lives that live under conditions completely different from ours. Today, other wars ravage the globe, but the point remains the same.

Situated: Foyer

Back to overview

Tekst / text: Maria Kjær Thomsen