Filmform (est. 1950) is dedicated to preservation, promotion and worldwide distribution of experimental film and video art. Constantly expanding, the distribution catalogue spans from 1924 to the present, including works by Sweden’s most prominent artists and filmmakers, available to rent for public screenings and exhibitions as well as for educational purposes.
The row houses from 1955 on the real estate of Kosta 3:30 are the only row houses constructed by Bruno Mathsson, making them unique. They were originally built for the foremen of Kosta Glassworks, but today the houses are abandoned and decayed. Mikael Olsson and Andreas Roth have made a film based on these houses. The collaboration omitted from a mutual desire to describe on film the work of Bruno Mathsson. During the year of production at Kosta, different aspects of the houses appeared. The filmmaking was concentrated to the original visual qualities, for example the relationship between separate volumes, how light meets the architecture. It’s a film which in an objective, yet visual way, describes the architecture in detail, but not for the sake of it in close-up. The houses are never shown entirely, but parts are presented as they were experienced – one by one.
Carsten Nicolai who made the soundtrack says: ‘the film is accompanied by 10 colour-plates, colours which reflect the idea of the house. For me this rang-ordering system resembles pure sinus tones – like the colour spectrum of light, which appear out of these pure tones facilitated by a feedback system.’
Born 1969 in Lerum, outside of Gothenburg on Sweden’s west coast, Olsson was trained at the Department of Photography and Film at University of Gothenburg 1993-96.
As a student Olsson started a decade-long collaboration with Göteborg film festival, the largest film festival in the Nordic countries. This resulted in several books, the possibility to work with guests such as director Wim Wenders, and sharpened Olsson’s eye for film making and led to an ongoing interest in cinema – and, later, a flirt with acting.
After graduating, Olsson has participated in numerous group exhibitions and had several solo exhibitions, both in Sweden and abroad. In 2018 he showed some works in the main exhibition of the Venice Biennale of Architecture (together with architect Petra Gipp). Olsson’s collaborations are wide-ranging and include various forms of expressions and representations. He has worked with Japanese fashion designer Jun Takahashi, Swedish Palme d’Or winner Ruben Östlund (The Square), Italian director Luca Guadagnino and British artist and director Isaac Julien.
In his photographs Olsson investigates the reenactment of history and the presence of the past in current times. Even if his works might be reminiscent of classical documentary photography, Olsson´s underlying aim is to redefine the genre. Taking the question of how we look at pictures as a starting point, he is interested in how authenticity is used as a visual language.
Andreas Roth
Born in 1965, lives and works in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Andreas Roth is an artist, project coordinator and curator. He’s currently working as coordinator for the culture department in Gothenburg. Since his graduation at Konsthögskolan Valand, Göteborgs Universitet Andreas Roth has been organizing a number of partnership with designers, musicians and actors. He was a key figure in the exhibition Moderna Fabler at Uddevalla Konsthall and Millesgården together with Ola Åstrand.
