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The photographic series Magical Rage by Clara Bahlsen presents meticulously staged still lifes in which everyday objects—stones, rivets, potatoes, and tree trunks; an animal jawbone, or a printer and mobile phone—are removed from their usual context and brought together in dense, tension-filled arrangements. By placing these things into new, unexpected constellations, Bahlsen strips them of their everyday function, granting them instead a symbolic, almost allegorical quality. In the studio, Bahlsen stacks, balances, and stages the objects with one another so that they enter into precarious equilibria and contradictory relationships.
The conceptual foundation of Magical Rage draws on Freud’s notion of sublimation: the transformation of raw, often destructive impulses into culturally valued forms. Freud’s 1904 essay on Michelangelo’s Moses serves as a reference point: Moses restrains his rage against the idolatrous people and protects the ta…
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The photographic series Magical Rage by Clara Bahlsen presents meticulously staged still lifes in which everyday objects—stones, rivets, potatoes, and tree trunks; an animal jawbone, or a printer and mobile phone—are removed from their usual context and brought together in dense, tension-filled arrangements. By placing these things into new, unexpected constellations, Bahlsen strips them of their everyday function, granting them instead a symbolic, almost allegorical quality. In the studio, Bahlsen stacks, balances, and stages the objects with one another so that they enter into precarious equilibria and contradictory relationships.
The conceptual foundation of Magical Rage draws on Freud’s notion of sublimation: the transformation of raw, often destructive impulses into culturally valued forms. Freud’s 1904 essay on Michelangelo’s Moses serves as a reference point: Moses restrains his rage against the idolatrous people and protects the ta…
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