Herpesomania!

What’s up Doc? It’s Crank 1 and Crank 2 speaking, bedridden.

Dear Patient. The Doctor is out of town, so it’s me, the secretary, speaking. How can I help you?

We are struggling, dear doctor. Bumps and blisters, ulcers that ooze, scabs and itching, friction & pain.

Ah, it must be the herpes then.

But how – could it be a long lost lover? A ghost from the past in pursuit of intensity? Cold turkey.

Bewitchery! Jealousy is the real herpes.

Say again?

Urethra to vulva, scrotum to cervix, matrix. Valtrex.

Sexually transmitted Siamese twins, seldom so tender.

Yes, it is contagious.

Do you offer home visits, Doctor?

There is no cure, there’s no cure for this.

Red pill, or blue pill?

You can try the magic trick. Repeat the spell after me, miss Crank: hervi-cetes, herpes virales, herpes genitales.

Hervi-cetes, herpes virales, herpes genitales… Hell.

Is it gone?

Death and desire, crumpled in a corner. Coupe de foudre!

Dry up and heal, Patient.

Dottore, dottore! Ayuto, ayuto!

Exhibition text by Elise By Olsen

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Maria Pasenau (b.1994, Mjøndalen, NO) holds a degree from the Norwegian School of Photography in Trondheim. She works primarily with photography, installation, performance and sculpture. Pasenau has garnered attention for boundary-breaking exhibitions that thematize taboo topics such as gender, the body and sexuality, where she points to contemporary self-staged media culture. The expression is self-revealing and seemingly unpolished and uncensored. Through her artistic practice, Pasenau highlights multi-voiced expressions of what it means to be young today, where sexuality is closely linked with vulnerability. Pasenau is among the youngest artists to have been acquired by the National Museum in Norway.

Håkon Siri (b.1992, Nesseby/Unjárga) is a Norwegian Kven Sea Sami with Oslo dialect. He is a trained music producer specializing in sound engineering. During the last 16 years, Siri has worked as a music producer with a clear establishment within electronic music. Siri and Pasenau have previously collaborated in connection with exhibitions, including a sound work presented during the exhibition "The Odder Erotica" in 2022 at Trafo Kunsthall in Asker.

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The exhibition is supported by Fritt Ord