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 Episode I: Arken
 
 
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Museum Meltdown

In November 15th 1996 we launched our first Museum Meltdown project at Arken, Museum of Modern Art in Ishoj outside of Copenhagen as part of the Nordic Biennal "The Scream", Borealis 8. Our piece was a 3D computer game where we reconstructed the architecture of Arken. This by using the build editor of the game Duke Nukem 3D, which allows users to create their own maps, levels and graphics etc. 

What differs Duke Nukem from other 3D action games like the original "Doom" is the Hollywood style in the entertaining violence, its extreme nature of bad taste, rasist and sexist clichees.
 

The Museum

The spectacular architecture of the Museum Arken represents a break in the tradition of the neutral exhibition space where art doesn't have to compete with architecture. The neutral exhibition space corresponds to the idea and the myth of the artists freedom. In this sense the architecture of Arken opens up to questions about the autonomy of the artist, the role of the institution and other issues concerning freedom and power within an art context.
 

The Technology

The world of computer technology contains everything from high to low, from the hackers to the powerful multinational enterprises. This culture and its networks goes beyond democracy, aesthetics and ethics of the main society and could as well be defined as a super-culture or a trans-culture. 

The technology has a vast influence on our perception of reality. As it shapes the world around us, the enviroment and the actual tools of perception and the question of identity becomes more complex and important to redefine. As the concept of space and our own presence becomes more and more unseparable, the relation between democracy and technology gets even more important. 

We decided to take the architecture of the museum one step further and turn the space into a violent computer game and hereby emphasize these questions.

1996 Tobias Bernstrup and Palle Torsson
 
 

The Scream Exhibition Dates: November 15th 1996 - January 2nd 1997
Opening Hours: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday 10-17,
Wednesday 10-22

 
Address: Arken Museum for Moderne Kunst
Ishoj havn, Skovej 100
DK-2635 Ishoj

Phone. +45.43 54 02 22 Fax. +45.43 54 05 22
Museum Meltdown is a project by Palle Torsson & Tobias Bernstrup 1996-1999,