Rødland’s photographs are not about narrative, they are about experience with an espresso-strength, double dose of subtle danger and eroticism. A first look is like seeing an Instagram account dedicated to the banalities of everyday life. A second look evokes nervousness, if not a little real terror. Pretty, dangerous and almost bathetic. In Rødland's words, “Maybe the best way to express authenticity is through a personal and desperate investment in the broken language of popular photography.” Non-Progress (2006), a visually addicting, quietly terrifying 8-minute color video, plays on continuous loop downstairs. One of several self-ironic punch lines—“My support group told me to go to hell.”—is classic Norwegian svart (dark) humor. If you wonder whether it is meant to be funny, it probably is. Keep this in mind re-seeing the photos upstairs in a blindingly white gallery. The overall atmosphere is pure Scandinavian noir.
Torbjørn Rødland at Eva Presenhuber, New York, through December 22, 2017.
