92、The Arctic Mongrel: Pia Arke’s Post - Colonial Avant - Gardism

The Arctic Mongrel: Pia Arke’s Post - Colonial Avant - Gardism

1. Introduction to Pia Arke and Her Avant - Garde Work

Pia Arke (1958–2007), a Danish - Greenlandic artist, is now recognized as a pioneer in both Danish and Greenlandic art scenes. What makes her work avant - garde in a Nordic context is a combination of several characteristics:
- Post - colonial themes : She addressed the long - silenced colonial relationship between Denmark and Greenland.
- Mixed media and found photographs : She combined various types of photography with video, performance, texts, and sculptural elements.
- Archival impulse : She retrieved images from archives and reused them in different works.
- Personal embodiment of the (post - )colonial relationship : Her art was a personal exploration of the colonial past.
- Deconstruction of national borders, identities, and ethnic specificities : She challenged traditional notions of nationality and ethnicity through her art.

2. Biographical Background

• Birth and early life : Arke was born in sparsely populated East Greenland, the child of a Greenlandic woman and a Danish man. Her family moved frequently due to her father’s job as a telegraphist. They lived in different parts of Greenland, including Scoresbysund (now Ittoqqortoormit), Thule, and Narsaq.
• Education and settlement : She spent time in Danish schools in the 1970s. In 1987, she settled in Copenhagen and studied at the Royal Academy of Art until 1993. She began exhibiting as an academy student from the late 1980s.

3. Initial Lack of Recognition

• In Greenland : Her inability to speak Greenlandic, the small size of the Greenlandic art scene and its audience, and her anti - national approach in her work led to an initial lack of interest.
• In Denmark : Her work lacked recognition due to its mixed materiality and the lack of post - colonial consciousness within institutions.

Factors Affecting Recognition	Greenland	Denmark
Language	Inability to speak Greenlandic	N/A
Art scene size	Small art scene and audience	N/A
National approach	Anti - national approach in work	N/A
Materiality	N/A	Mixed materiality
Post - colonial consciousness	N/A	Lack of post - colonial consciousness in institutions

4. A “Mongrel” Way of Making Art

Arke used the term “mongrel” to describe herself and photography as “the bastard of art forms”. She chose photography, an under - recognized medium in the 1980s Danish art world, to break the silence around Greenland’s colonial history.
- Mixed photography types : She combined appropriated archival historical images, family photos, black - and - white pinhole photos, sharp and glossy color formats, staged and highly performative photography.
- Combination with other media : She combined photography with video, performance, texts, and sculptural elements.
- Archival approach : She reused the same archival images in different works, and her work often resembled an artistic research project.

5. Inside the Camera Obscura

Arke often worked with the camera obscura, a “primitive” version of the photographic medium. In 1996, on a cold and sunny day in Helsingør, she placed her home - made, human - size camera obscura on the rampart between Kronborg Castle and the sea.

graph LR
    A[Cold and sunny day in 1996] --> B[Arke places camera obscura in Helsingør]
    B --> C[Enter camera box with artist]
    C --> D[Expose slow black - and - white lithography film]
    D --> E[Arke's body performance interferes with the landscape image]
    E --> F[Work Telegraphy includes related private photograph]

• The camera obscura allowed her to infuse the landscape image with the imprint of her own body, which she saw as a way to “gain territory”.
• In the work Telegraphy, a private photograph of the same place taken by a telegraphist leaving Denmark to work in Greenland was included, adding to the exploration of the colonial connection.

6. Staged Bodies in Front of the Pinhole Landscape

In 1990, while still at the art academy, Arke built and inaugurated a camera obscura. She planned to use it to “conquer” or interpret the Greenlandic landscape.
- Pinhole photograph as background : A pinhole photograph taken at Nuugaarsuk Point in Narsaq in 1990 and enlarged was used as a background for various performative stagings.
- Performative works :
- The Three Graces (1993) : Arke posed with two other women from her childhood, holding traditional Greenlandic artefacts, mimicking the poses of colonized objects.
- Untitled works (1993) : She posed as a drum dancer in traditional costume and sat with a Greenlandic woman’s ceremonial kamik boot on her head, playing ironically with traditional codes.
- Arctic Hysteria (1996) : The same pinhole photograph was laid on the floor. Arke crawled on it naked, caressing and tearing it, playing ironically with the colonial term “Arctic hysteria”.
- Nature Morte (1994) : She mixed images of her friend Susanne’s body (after breast - cancer surgery) with colonial - related motifs such as books by early explorers and missionaries.

7. Analysis of Her Performative Works

Pia Arke’s performative works are rich in symbolism and serve as a powerful means to convey her post - colonial message.

7.1 The Three Graces

In “The Three Graces,” Arke and her companions’ frontal and sometimes aggressive gazes are a direct challenge to the traditional anthropological photography that objectified the colonized. By holding traditional Greenlandic artefacts in modern clothing, they blend the past and the present, highlighting the complex identity of the Greenlandic people under colonial influence.

7.2 Untitled Works

The act of posing as a drum dancer in traditional costume and wearing a kamik boot on her head in an ironic way is Arke’s way of subverting the colonial stereotypes. She takes control of the symbols of Greenlandic culture and uses them to express her own agency, rather than allowing them to be used as markers of an inferior “other” by the colonizers.

7.3 Arctic Hysteria

The video “Arctic Hysteria” is a multi - layered work. By using the term “Arctic hysteria,” which was used by early explorers to pathologize indigenous women, Arke reclaims the term. Her naked and somewhat clownish performance on the photograph of the landscape is a rejection of the colonizers’ view of the indigenous as wild and out of control. Instead, she shows a sense of playfulness and self - determination.

7.4 Nature Morte

In “Nature Morte,” the combination of Susanne’s post - surgery body with colonial - related motifs is a poignant commentary on the intersection of personal suffering and colonial history. The clinical images of the body are juxtaposed with the symbols of colonial exploration, suggesting that the impact of colonialism is not just on a cultural or historical level but also on a very personal and physical level.

Work	Symbolism	Message
The Three Graces	Blending of modern and traditional, direct gazes	Challenging objectification and highlighting complex identity
Untitled works	Ironic use of traditional symbols	Subverting colonial stereotypes
Arctic Hysteria	Reclaiming “Arctic hysteria” term, clownish performance	Rejecting colonizers’ view and showing self - determination
Nature Morte	Juxtaposition of body and colonial motifs	Linking personal suffering to colonial history

8. Pia Arke’s Contribution to Post - Colonial Art

Pia Arke’s work has made significant contributions to the field of post - colonial art, both in the Danish and Greenlandic contexts.

8.1 Initiating the Post - Colonial Discussion

She was one of the first artists to bring the long - silenced colonial relationship between Denmark and Greenland into the art world. Her work sparked a discussion about post - colonialism in Greenland, giving a voice to Greenlandic artists who had previously been marginalized.

8.2 Challenging Artistic Conventions

Arke’s use of photography in unconventional ways, her combination of multiple media, and her archival approach challenged the traditional notions of art. She broke away from the norms of the conservative art scenes in both Greenland and Denmark, forcing the art world to reevaluate what art could be.

8.3 Deconstructing National and Ethnic Identities

Through her art, she deconstructed the concepts of national borders, identities, and ethnic specificities. She showed that identity is fluid and complex, and that the colonial past has a profound impact on how we define ourselves.

graph LR
    A[Initiating post - colonial discussion] --> B[Giving voice to Greenlandic artists]
    C[Challenging artistic conventions] --> D[Forcing art world to reevaluate art]
    E[Deconstructing national and ethnic identities] --> F[Showing fluid and complex identities]
    B & D & F --> G[Overall contribution to post - colonial art]

9. Conclusion

Pia Arke’s work was truly avant - garde in the Nordic context. Her unique combination of post - colonial themes, mixed media, archival impulse, and personal embodiment of the colonial relationship set her apart from her contemporaries. Although her work faced initial lack of recognition in both Greenland and Denmark, it has now gained the respect and attention it deserves.

Her “mongrel” way of making art, using photography in all its forms and combining it with other media, was a bold statement. The camera obscura and the performative works in front of the pinhole landscapes were not just artistic experiments but powerful tools to explore and express the complex colonial history between Denmark and Greenland.

In the end, Pia Arke’s art has left a lasting legacy. It has opened up new avenues for post - colonial art, inspiring future generations of artists to explore their own cultural heritage and the impact of colonialism on their identities. Her work serves as a reminder that art can be a powerful force for social change and cultural understanding.