Markus Bråten
Markus Bråten (b. 1990) is a visual artist who lives and works in Stavanger. In his artistic work, he is concerned with the physical location of the imagination in the world. He deals with this theme through artistic processes that recognize place as the most important guide. His work employs a variety of materials and media, such as sculpture, video installation and painting/drawing. Bråten received his MFA from Malmö Art Academy and Maumaus Escola de Artes Visuais, in Portugal between 2011 and 2016. Since then, he has exhibited at OBRA in Malmö, Atelier Concorde in Lisbon, Werthalle in Cologne and Stasjon K in Norway. Since 2019, he has run the collaborative project Skaus together with artists Mari Kolbeinson and Håvard Sagen. Skaus is a nomadic art project and exhibition platform.
Markus was on a residency at Velferden in April 2024. During his stay with us, Bråten worked on the long-term project "Kløyv". Between now and 2027, he will create a series of site-sensitive wooden sculptures that will be placed indoors and outdoors in several locations around Norway.
The objects form the basis of the project, where animals are crucial to the design and development: Bråten wants to create sculptures that have functional value for the farmer and for the animals - as salt stone dispensers (where necessary) and as objects that the animals can chew on, scratch or otherwise leave traces in.
Bråten will gather the subjects for the sculptures from the local environment, and research into Norwegian wood species with usefulness for animals will be important for the choice of materials.
During his stay at Velferden , Markus gathered information to develop the conceptual and practical framework of the project. He also used the time to establish contact with a farmer and collected sketches from the site where the first sculptures in the project will be realized. In addition to this, Markus has been working on a landscape model inspired by the landscape in Sokndal, which he will use to devise prototypes for the sculptures. He himself says about his stay:
"Through conversations with other participating artists on Velferden , I have found increased confidence and security in the process. This has been a valuable reminder that it is important to hold on to ideas that seem challenging to initiate."
