Uvurderlig og vurderlig (Unassessable and assessable)

Site related installation with two foiled aluminum signs (each 85 × 14 cm) made for «I Call It Art», the opening exhibition at The National Museum, Oslo 2022. Curated by Randi Godø and Geir Haraldseth.

«I Call It Art» was a group exhibition featuring recent contemporary art including works by 147 artists, selected from an open call and outreach tours around Norway. The signs were mounted at the end of a corridor and placed high on the wall, higher up than the other works in the exhibition. This way the ambiguity is maintained, that the signs alternate between appearing as actual signposts, and one of many works in the exhibition, questioning its own posistion.

The text on the green sign can be translated 'Unassessable Art' or 'Invaluable Art'. The subtext reads: 'Art that transcends known quality criterias'. The red sign says: "Quality art. Art with acknowledged qualities".

'Vurderlig' is a word that does not exist in Norwegian. But it makes sense, as it is derived from «uvurderlig». It literally says 'assessable' but can also be understood as 'dismissively measured'. 'Uvurderlig' means 'invaluable', 'priceless' or 'critical'. But a literal translation would be 'impossible to assess'.
Thanks to Protector Skilt