Their show — the first time in a decade that Djurberg and Berg’s work will be shown on the West Coast — brings together three of the duo’s shorts in an immersive landscape that reflects each film and utilizes some of their characters. Upon entering, visitors are greeted by “The Stone Garden,” a craggy and inhospitable sculptural rock outcropping with their short “Dark Side of the Moon” playing in the background. Fantastical flowers made of metal, glassfiber, epoxy putty, wire, resin and paint appear to grow on top of the crystal- and gold-flecked cement rocks, giving a pretty sheen to the sinister scene.
“One Lost Egg” is one of the best, most intriguing pieces in the entire show. (Jim Bennett/Photo Bakery for the National Nordic Museum)
The next two galleries feature similar themes — flower-and mushroom-covered branches growing out of walls, bulky rocks, and sentient trunks of wood. Berg’s haunting film scores permeate the galleries, placing visitors into a beautiful yet foreboding headspace. But the most interesting addition in these back two galleries is the appearance of humanoid soft-boiled-egg sculptures that lay crushed underneath rocks, melt into chairs, or face belly-up, vulnerable to the world. This egg creature appears in Djurberg and Berg’s short film “A Pancake Moon” as it eludes violent, seductive animals and transforms into a moon. The egg in all its weirdness is immensely relatable in these trying times.
Although Djurberg and Berg’s worlds are elaborate and rich with story, you won’t find wall texts interpreting them or providing any context. Rather, A Place of Opportunity and Transformation asks viewers to transport themselves to this fairy tale-like space and glean their own understanding of each piece, leaning on cultural references and fables familiar to them.
Photographer Tara Champion explores family ties in her new show at Solas Gallery, ‘terraforming.’ (Photo by Tara Champion, courtesy Solas Gallery)
August is a notoriously slow time for the arts in the city — everyone is busy soaking up the last rays of sunshine and enjoying as much downtime as possible before the onslaught of fall programming. But photography, in particular, has been having an excellent month.
At SOIL Gallery, smoke is on the brain. The group show Smoke Season (through Aug. 31) features four local artists responding to the dreaded smoke season caused by wildfires across the region. Christian French harnesses his camera to dive headfirst into the experience of the fires. His photos capture the sinister orange that permeates the outdoors as smoke obscures the sun, and landscapes become horror scenes drenched in toxic air. It’s beautiful and unnerving work. (On the lighter end, janet galore interprets “smoke” as cigarette smoke with giant, cheeky video installations.)
Just down the street and around the corner is Solas Gallery, a photography-focused spot that opened late last year. On the walls is terraforming (through Sept. 14), a show by photographer Tara Champion that explores “identity and ancestral correlation when biological connections are severed and questioned.” Champion’s photos have a ghostly quality to them — family portraits with missing people, a broken wishbone, a pair of feet sticking out of tall grass — as if a presence is haunting their subjects.
Multimedia artist Lucy Kim collaborated with biologists to develop a new experimental printing process that harnesses genetically modified cells to produce melanin on paper. In her show at the Henry Art Gallery, Mutant Optics (through Feb. 2, 2025), Kim photographed vanilla plants on research farms in Florida and used this new process to reproduce images of those plants on giant layered prints. Collectively, the work investigates the relationship among colonization, racial histories, global economies and bioengineering.
Julia Y. James dancing near the “POD Act II” by Boyuang Yu at the Price Sculpture Forest. (Photo by Scott Price)
A few more ways to stay outdoors in these dying days of summer:
< Over at Westlake Park on Aug. 23, folk rockers The Moondoggies are performing in the Downtown Seattle Association’s free music series Downtown Summer Sounds. The band takes the stage around 12:30 p.m. Stick around after for a beer garden open from 3-7 p.m. Here’s to summer’s last gasp!
< With the end of the warm weather comes the final SAM Remix of the season (Aug. 23, 8 p.m.-12 a.m.) at the Olympic Sculpture Park. The Seattle Art Museum’s late-night art party will have DJs, photo booths, performances, art installations, tours and more. The dress code is nature unbound, so be sure to don your best, most botanical outfits.
< If you want to get out of Seattle for the weekend, the South Sound Block Party (Aug. 23-24) is putting on one heck of a show on the Northpoint of the Port of Olympia. Don’t be fooled by “block party” — heavy hitters like Bikini Kill and X are headlining alongside other solid acts like DeVotchKa, Black Ends, Surfer Girl and Oblé Reed.
< Also outside Seattle, choreographer Eva Stone has teamed up with the Price Sculpture Forest on Whidbey Island to present Wander/Wonder on Aug. 24, (1-3 p.m.), a performance that responds to the nature and art within the park. Ten dancers will be sprinkled along the walking trail next to the sculptures, performing on loop. An excellent excuse for a getaway!
< Art and sports collide at the Mariners’ Power of Pop Culture Night (Aug. 27, 6:40 p.m.). The beloved baseball team has linked up with the Museum of Pop Culture to celebrate the museum’s new exhibition, Massive, which explores the global impact of pop culture. For every ticket sold, $10 goes to MoPOP. Come through to pick up a limited-edition hat, eat some popcorn and watch the Mariners beat the Tampa Bay Rays.
< This week, Whim W’Him’s summer dance series continues. On Aug. 28, the contemporary dance group will host two pop-up performances – one at Martha Washington Park next to Seward Park (6 p.m.) and another at Jefferson Park on Beacon Hill (7:45 p.m.). Come to watch the dancers move their bodies, using the Seattle landscape as their backdrop.
P.S. from Brangien:
Tomorrow we launch the final episode in the premiere season of Art by Northwest. In this edition, we profile renowned Tacoma potter Reid Ozaki.
An accomplished artist and generous mentor, Ozaki was deeply influenced by his connection with nature — which was seeded in his Hawaiian childhood, nurtured by his Japanese heritage and bloomed in the Pacific Northwest. His beautiful vessels and forms take organic shapes, and his glazes recall sand, earth and cooled lava.
Sadly, what began as a glimpse of Ozaki’s 50-year career has become a celebration of his legacy and life. Ozaki died on July 25, soon after we wrapped filming. I hope you’ll take the time to appreciate his work in his absence. (Watch it on broadcast Aug. 23 at 8:50 p.m. or stream it online starting Aug. 26.)
Watch and read all the Art by Northwest profiles to date.
