Institution
Interview
Talk
Audio
Listening
KH Künstler:innenhaus Bremen
Renaming
Transition

14.05.2023

Cancer Break Up Songs

Olav Westphalen

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Across from Olav Westphalen’s studio in Stockholm’s old meat packing district, stood a huge, refrigerated warehouse.It took up the entire view from the studio windows. Over the course of several months and as part of the ongoing gentrification of the old industrial area, it was methodically demolished. Its parts and materials were sorted into different piles and categories and carted away. Behind the warehouse, a wide view opened up. While recovering from treatment for a serious disease, the artist was spending much of his time in a rocking chair by the windows, too tired to do much else. He started following the demolition process and commenting on it in real time. Much later, he started showing snippets go that process as part of his work with APT (The Association for the Palliative Turn). Typically, he would sow a few scenes from the demolition and combine them with a performance.

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