Cables Data, by Alice Anderson at Chart Design 2018

Following its debut in 2016, Copenhagen-based art fair Chart presents the second installment of its design branch (Chart Design 31 August – 2 September). With returning galleries, such as Etage and Galleri Feldt, and new entries, including local player Adorno and Finnish gallery Lokal, the fair is shaping up under new director Nanna Balslev Strøjer into a mature display of the best collectable design from the Nordic region and beyond. Here we have picked out the top five highlights to look out for...

Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art

Moving away from the art fair’s traditional Charlottenborg Palace location, the design fair presents its second edition at Den Frie, one of Copenhagen’s oldest art venues. Founded by a group of artists in 1898, the building was designed by expressionist artist J.F. Willumsen and has since become a major art centre in the city. The central space of the venue will host an installation by Alice Anderson, while the rest of the building will be taken over by galleries displaying their pieces ranging from 20th-century modernism to contemporary projects.

Trans Act

The fair’s mission to support emerging design talent is manifested in the Curio project, also in its second installment. Titled Trans Act, this year’s edition aims at questioning commercial structures within the field of contemporary design, featuring works by four Danish designers, with further contributions from across the Nordic region. The site-specific pieces include the work of Ane Fabricius Christiansen (pictured), a graduate of Design School Kolding and Bergen Academy of Art & Design. Christiansen is presenting a piece based on her ongoing research and experimentation in poetic expressions with a serial focus.

Now Nordic by Adorno

Amongst the galleries making their Chart debut is digital gallery Adorno, appropriately presenting five new design collections of design art from Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Now Nordic, the design platform’s biggest launch to date, was put together with the help of a team of curators from the Nordic countries, creating five collections (each named after a capital city – Copenhagen pictured here) that comprise both emerging and established designers operating on the cusp of art, design and craftsmanship. The diverse showcase includes Norwegian studio Pettersen & Hein, Elina Ulvio from Finland and Brynjar Sigurdarson from Iceland. The display at Chart will be complemented by a digital exhibition, featuring additional interactive video and image content exploring the processes behind each designer’s work in context of the region’s contemporary culture.

Sinus by Pearla Pigao at Designmuseum Denmark

Offsite from the fair, Chart presents the work of Norwegian experimental sound artist Pearla Pigao. Taking over a hall of the city’s Design Museum, Pigao’s textile sculptures become interactive musical instruments, investigating how music and sound can be transferred through specially-woven textiles featuring metal threads. Created using a technique inspired by the Theremin, the artist’s textiles can be played without being touched by the public, who become co-authors of the sound composition.  Photography: Vegard Kleven

Cables Data by Alice Anderson

This large site-specific installation marks the British artist’s debut in the Nordic region and will take centre stage at Den Frie. The immersive sculpture questions our relationship to physical objects in today’s increasingly digital world. The artist’s signature ‘memorised objects’ are created by encapsulating everyday items in coloured wire, creating evanescent silhouettes that poetically suggest familiar shapes – in this case, the digital paraphernalia that clutters our everyday lives.

What to see at Chart Art 1018