DOWNTIME w/ øjeRum

1) Location? Copenhagen, Denmark 🇩🇰

2) Years collaging? I began doing collages around 2010. The first collages I made simply as a way of passing time. I didn't really think that much about it. A year or so later my girlfriend encouraged me to dig deeper and I started thinking more about how I could express myself through them. That was when I slowly started developing a style.

3) What do you love and hate about collage? I love how taking two disparate elements and putting them together can create something totally unexpected and unpredictable. I often think of a description André Breton gives of the poetic image where he states that the more disparate the elements in a sentence the stronger and more poetic the image gets. This is written from a surrealistic point of view of course, but for me it often makes much sense when applied to collage. ii) I hate it when my approach to doing collages gets too fixated and limited by my own conceptions about what I want to do. Doing collages is to me predominantly about coincidence and chance. Trying too hard to control what's going on often means closings the doors to experiencing and capturing the unexpected.

4) Biggest influences?  The philosopher Emmanuel Levinas has a concept called 'il y a' – the 'there is' – which he uses to describe a sort of pure being. Reading about the 'il y a' has influenced me on so many levels and I feel like his descriptions comes very close to the expressions I'm striving for in practically everything I do. I love the works of Franz Kafka and of the Norwegian poet Tor Ulven and I get endless amounts of inspiration from listening to music. In the latter case an honorable mention would go to 'The Pearl' by Harold Budd and Brian Eno since this album so beautifully expresses emotions similar to the ones I'm trying to convey.

5) Analog Vs Digital?  All my collages are handmade and I only use original clippings from old books, magazines and the like. I never use any digital resources while creating my images. I rarely plan out to make a collage a certain way but always start off by playing around with clippings and if things go well a new figure begins to emerge. I like the finished collage to have a coherent expression so it's all about finding pieces of paper that complement each other in form and content.

6) How do you spend your downtime?  When I'm not doing collages I make music or write about nonexistent worlds.

7) Three tips for someone starting out in collage? 

i) Find out what it is you wish to express (not the content as such but the underlying feeling and idea)
ii) don't make anything you feel could just as well have been made by another (develop your own style)
iii) keep an open mind and welcome chance encounters.

8) Up and coming shows or projects we should know about? Right now I'm mostly focussing on making music. You can listen to my releases onbandcamp and soundcloud. Lastly I would like to bring attention to this newly animated music video in which artist Scott Minzy brings my collages to life.

Links:

Web:  http://oejerum.dk/
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/oejerum

Artworks (top to bottom)
'In The Past The Trees Used To Carry Holes For Memories' Paper Collage
'She Is The Trees' Paper Collage
'Silent Figure With Landscape' Paper Collage
'Spejlinger' Paper Collage 'Væv' Paper Collage
'The Forest Is Sleeping Within The Trees' Paper Collage
'Twinsistermoon' Paper Collage
'Hate' Paper Collage