Hans Hamid Rasmussen Uneven Transitions
Both districts are characterized by how different architectural and infrastructural changes have been woven together over time, whether these be it different forms of transportation such as horses and donkeys, now partially replaced by mechanical means of transport, or jumbles of cables and pipes alongside the geological conditions and historical marks of these areas.
The Kasbah has repeatedly been damaged by earthquakes, while cracks appear between the foundation walls and cliffs in the Old Town due to erosion. Similarly, there are still visible traces of the bombings during the liberation war in Algeria in the 1950s and 60s as well as from the civil war of the 90s, while Oslo’s Old Town has been shaped by specific social historical and industrial developments, such as the railway dividing the district.
Hans Hamid Rasmussen has studied how all these encounters to reveal the irregularities and compromises of the two districts. “Uneven Transitions” can be seen as a correlative visual study of the Kasbah and the Old Town with photography as its documentary basis. However, each work has been modified, creating a kind of spatial relief, either through hand-embroidery, cutting holes in the black-and-white photographs or by adding elements of paper or textile, sewn directly into the photographs.
The aim of these interventions is to explore how two districts with different social and historical conditions can be examined and compared using well-known artistic techniques and materials. By forming what can best be described as phenomenological passages, the works do not only render the bodily experience of the artist, they also bring forward those irregularities, which are not visible to our eye at first glance.
Hans Hamid Rasmussen (b. 1963) lives and works in Oslo and Rakkestad, Norway. Rasmussen studied at Fotoakademin in Stockholm and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Oslo. From 2004 to 2007, Rasmussen took part in the programme for artistic development with his project A Homage to the Hybrid at The Art Academy in Trondheim. From 2008 to 2020, Rasmussen held the position of amanuensis and professor of visual art in the subject area of textiles at the Department of Arts and Crafts at Oslo School of the Arts. Rasmussen has partici-pated in the Biennale de Havana (2019), the Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art (2016), the Gothenburg Interna-tional Biennial (2011), the third Triennial in Guangzhou (2008) and the 26th São Paulo Biennial (2004).