Avesta Art - Traces of time, impressions of life

Every year, the juxtaposition of national and international contemporary art and the historic ironworks environment attracts many visitors to Verket in Avesta. The season opening for Avesta Art is mid-May, which this year is titled ”Traces of Time – Impressions of Life”, featuring artists from Sweden, Denmark and Belgium.

Verket bears the remains of the many years of ironmaking including the work of rolling out sheet metal, and the production of stainless steel. The slag stone buildings themselves along with machines and visible traces of the workers' hands, form a map of the life lived on the site. Another aspect of the theme is that there is life we cannot discern with the naked (bare?) eye yet can be revealed by calculations and measuring equipment. This applies both to microscopic bacteria and viruses, and the infinite universe, through which we seem to be constantly on the lookout for signs of life. Through DNA and genetics, the boundaries of individual lives have been somewhat blurred, resulting in ethically complex issues. What physical, biological and digital traces do you leave yourself on a normal day, on a surveillance camera, through your mobile phone or at the checkout stand? The traces of life are everywhere.