ARTIST RESIDENCY: HANS K CLAUSEN

Staff, patients, relatives and visitors were given a piece of raw porcelain clay, asked to stop for a moment, take a few deep breaths, gather their thoughts and squeeze. The clay was fired and this has resulted in collection of over 600 unique sculptural objects, each the result of one person grasping the pliable material for a moment. Hans worked with Kjersti Sletteland, an expert ceramicist, and poet Jenni Fagan. Hans was inspired by a DCN nurse telling him about the importance of holding someone’s hand when they were dying. Touch is so vital.

The work was exhibited during the Edinburgh Arts Festival in the Anatomical Museum. Each work was hung amongst the anatomical exhibits expressing an anatomical quality of vertebrae but also showing a sense of fragility because they were just hanging from very fine silk thread.

“I am primarily interested in how the stuff that we come into contact with every day has a language I can use in the visual art world. I want to have a dialogue with people by using and manipulating objects – squeezing the meaning out of them. As Resident Artist I was given the time and space to look at the processes within the existing hospital community and what happened as it went through a time of transition. I produced a collaborative piece (on many levels) that captured a sense of the community both on a personal level and the idea of people becoming part of a community." – Hans K Clausen.