Oscar Tuazon
Oscar Tuazon's solo exhibition, Water School, at the Bergen Kunsthall, Norway presents new works and a large-scale installation connected to the artist's ongoing project, Water School, which started in 2016. Curated by Axel Wieder, Tuazon and collaborators explore the dynamics and power plays that regulate access to land, water, and infrastructures. The physical structure of the installation is based on a design for a “Zome House” (1969–1972) by the architects and engineers Holy and Steve Baer, an early radical design based on the use of passive solar energy.
As the artist explains, “Water School moves, following water as it cycles across vast geographies, linking mountains to oceans and subterranean aquifers to the skies above them. Water School is a mobile architecture, learning from the fluidity of its medium and the collaborative process of its construction.”
The presentation at Bergen Kunsthall features a scaled-down version of the initial Water School pavilions and occupy all four main gallery spaces of the Kunsthall to create a series of rooms in which inside and outside are blurred. Additional works alongside a new fountain sculpture bring the materiality and sounds of water directly into the exhibition. The show also includes a series of works by Larry “Ulaaq” Ahvakana, a Native Alaskan artist and early mentor of Tuazon.
For more information about the exhibition, please visit the Bergen Kunsthall website.