Carla Wedderkopp current research
Projects
Participation-based performance and installation in various dimensions (1,5m x 2,5m space).
Video, sound and text
Our bodies register auditioning as a competition. When the risk of rejection occurs, it’s in our biology to mold and adapt ourselves in the hope to be chosen.
Shown as a part of the MFA degree show at Kunstnernes Hus, “The casting call” consists of a script on a table, providing directions for a casting call, which is enacted in the shown video. When is started, the casting call begins, and the audience can follow the script, reading the lines assigned to “actor (you)”. When one has completed the audition, there is the opportunity to fill in a contact sheet and place it in the document tray.
Shown as a part of the MFA degree show at Kunstnernes Hus, “The casting call” consists of a script on a table, providing directions for a casting call, which is enacted in the shown video. When is started, the casting call begins, and the audience can follow the script, reading the lines assigned to “actor (you)”. When one has completed the audition, there is the opportunity to fill in a contact sheet and place it in the document tray.
The work extends into the 1st and 2nd of August, where the participating audiences who filled in the contact sheet are called back for their second audition: “The callback”. This will be a blend of performance, musical, an audition that turns into a theatrical daydream and nightmare.
Site specific total installation in various dimensions (area of 46 m2)
Construction wood, textile, plaster, head lamps, smoke machine, sound in stereo played from four loud speakers
As a part of the MFA graduation at Oslo National Academy of the Arts, I showed the solo degree project “There is a place that only you have seen” at Kunstnernes Hus, in The Academy Room. The project was a blend of an immersive musical composition, a vocal storytelling (lyrics below) and a total installation of sculpture, mist and light, activated by the audience as they shone the assigned head lamps around the room. I finished the project with a performance on the 28th of February, featuring artist and musician Agnes Olander and myself, as seen and heard above.
There is a place that only you have seen
There is a room that only you can visit
There is a cavity
There is a well
You know
You always did know
You have to forget everything else
You know that
You’re a boat
You’re an anglerfish
You’re a fanfare
You’re a lighthouse
You’re smoke traveling through a clay pipe
You’re sound bouncing off distant walls
You’re every film you’ve ever seen
You’ve traced it in sketches
You know
that
There is a place that only you have seen
There is a place that only you have seen
There is a room that only you can visit
There is a cavity
There is a well
You know
You always did know
You have to forget everything else
You know that
You’re a boat
You’re an anglerfish
You’re a fanfare
You’re a lighthouse
You’re smoke traveling through a clay pipe
You’re sound bouncing off distant walls
You’re every film you’ve ever seen
You’ve traced it in sketches
You know
that
There is a place that only you have seen
Total installation in various dimensions (spatial area 133m2)
Slide projector, mirror, rotating motor, smoke machine, stereo sound played from four loud speakers
Shown as a solo show in Seilduken 2, a big white space in Oslo National Academy of the Arts, this was a materialization of research around romance and dating culture, alongside my long standing research of lighthouses. As the mirror turned in the middle of the big dark room, laid in a thick mist, the light of the slide projector created a minimalistic lighthouse by casting a beam of light around the room as a cinematic soundtrack of music and storytelling (lyrics below) was heard from every corner.
Now I see why I had to meet you
it had to be you
It had to be
It always will be
It always will be the ultimate romance
We’ll never get closer than this
I’ll never be able to leave
I love everything you taught me
Often, I talk to myself and imagine what you would reply
It had to be you
It had to be you
It always will be
It has to be
The next time I meet someone else
It will be august
the subway is swollen with heat
At the next stop, the smell of cedarwood comes in and takes a seat right next to me
The carriage is full
I feel my pulse in my hands and temples and it’s almost sickening
I’ll close my eyes, I’ll take a deep breath
of everyone’s sweat and the deep wooden notes
Trying to enjoy the sensuality of a possession that never leaves
it just flares like hives or seasonal allergies
It would seem that longing is eternal
I love when I remember
I’ll never be able to leave
It had to be you
It had to be you
It always will be
It has to be
Slide projector, mirror, rotating motor, smoke machine, stereo sound played from four loud speakers
Shown as a solo show in Seilduken 2, a big white space in Oslo National Academy of the Arts, this was a materialization of research around romance and dating culture, alongside my long standing research of lighthouses. As the mirror turned in the middle of the big dark room, laid in a thick mist, the light of the slide projector created a minimalistic lighthouse by casting a beam of light around the room as a cinematic soundtrack of music and storytelling (lyrics below) was heard from every corner.
Now I see why I had to meet you
it had to be you
It had to be
It always will be
It always will be the ultimate romance
We’ll never get closer than this
I’ll never be able to leave
I love everything you taught me
Often, I talk to myself and imagine what you would reply
It had to be you
It had to be you
It always will be
It has to be
The next time I meet someone else
It will be august
the subway is swollen with heat
At the next stop, the smell of cedarwood comes in and takes a seat right next to me
The carriage is full
I feel my pulse in my hands and temples and it’s almost sickening
I’ll close my eyes, I’ll take a deep breath
of everyone’s sweat and the deep wooden notes
Trying to enjoy the sensuality of a possession that never leaves
it just flares like hives or seasonal allergies
It would seem that longing is eternal
I love when I remember
I’ll never be able to leave
It had to be you
It had to be you
It always will be
It has to be
Performative installation in various dimensions.
Flat screen monitor 32”, stereo sound from two loud speakers, two microphones and text on video
In “Compulsory Duet”, musical composition in a naive but cinematic style becomes a tool for creating a theatrical scenography and atmosphere, allowing for the audiences to act out their inner movie monologue. A conversation between lovers is shown moving across a screen in a video that resembles the style of karaoke. A very insisting voiceover intro urges the audience to get up and grab a microphone. Not two performances of the work are alike, as the audience becomes the performer. The vibe can shift from comedic to genuine in an instant, depending on the duet partner one is faced with. The work has been shown in Cetinje, Montenegro at The Faculty of Fine Arts in October 2024 as well as at “Khio Open 2024” in Oslo in November 2024.
Flat screen monitor 32”, stereo sound from two loud speakers, two microphones and text on video
In “Compulsory Duet”, musical composition in a naive but cinematic style becomes a tool for creating a theatrical scenography and atmosphere, allowing for the audiences to act out their inner movie monologue. A conversation between lovers is shown moving across a screen in a video that resembles the style of karaoke. A very insisting voiceover intro urges the audience to get up and grab a microphone. Not two performances of the work are alike, as the audience becomes the performer. The vibe can shift from comedic to genuine in an instant, depending on the duet partner one is faced with. The work has been shown in Cetinje, Montenegro at The Faculty of Fine Arts in October 2024 as well as at “Khio Open 2024” in Oslo in November 2024.
Site specific total installation and performance in various dimensions
Silicone, costume (nurse uniform and latex), water, text and found materials
Shown as my contribution to the BFA degree show from The Art Academy in Tromsø at Tromsø Kunstforening, the project “Directions for Care” lends rules from live action role playing and card game Magic the Gathering, while applying them to a body horror scenario derived from my experiences as a municipal nursing assistant. The NPC (non-player character) Sharon lurks around, handing out character cards to the audience, allowing them to act with each other in the work, expanding the story with their interpretations.
At the center of the installation is a live size silicone sculpture of a body, ambiguous in gender and physical health. The body is placed in a metal bathtub, filled with murky bath water.
On the last day of the exhibition, I held a finissage performance as Sharon, reading a passage from the exhibition’s publication. Video documentation can be found at the end of the slideshow above.
Silicone, costume (nurse uniform and latex), water, text and found materials
Shown as my contribution to the BFA degree show from The Art Academy in Tromsø at Tromsø Kunstforening, the project “Directions for Care” lends rules from live action role playing and card game Magic the Gathering, while applying them to a body horror scenario derived from my experiences as a municipal nursing assistant. The NPC (non-player character) Sharon lurks around, handing out character cards to the audience, allowing them to act with each other in the work, expanding the story with their interpretations.
At the center of the installation is a live size silicone sculpture of a body, ambiguous in gender and physical health. The body is placed in a metal bathtub, filled with murky bath water.
On the last day of the exhibition, I held a finissage performance as Sharon, reading a passage from the exhibition’s publication. Video documentation can be found at the end of the slideshow above.
Installation
18 glass bottles (sizes varying from 7 x 12 cm - 15 x 35 cm), bed sheets, various liquids
Shown as part of the group exhibition “CONTINUUM OF US” at Arden Asbæk Gallery.
Bedsheets from the earlier work slip, encapsulating memories and scent, was conserved and distilled in various ways, using traditional methods such as enflourage and steam destillation.
I managed to produce a successful extract, holding the scent of a warm body in the bedsheets (as seen in picture 6/6 “Steam Destillate 15/18”).
This work was shown alongside a re-installment of the work slip in the exhibition.
Installation
255x200x80cm
Beds, curtains, various textiles and bedding, body scent
This work was shown as a part of the group exhibition “Det tar aldri slutt” at Havneterminalen Prostneset in Tromsø.
The use of negative space and traces of a body was heavily inspired by artist Félix González-Torres, speaking into similar queer love stories and the erasure of queer bodies.
I was interested in examining privacy and what would happen to a time sensitive imprint on a bed, made by a body, when new bodies would touch and change the presentation, the scent - would the original imprint inherently disappear? Is it possible to prolong a moment in time? Questions that led me to make the follow-up work, “slip in time”.
255x200x80cm
Beds, curtains, various textiles and bedding, body scent
This work was shown as a part of the group exhibition “Det tar aldri slutt” at Havneterminalen Prostneset in Tromsø.
The use of negative space and traces of a body was heavily inspired by artist Félix González-Torres, speaking into similar queer love stories and the erasure of queer bodies.
I was interested in examining privacy and what would happen to a time sensitive imprint on a bed, made by a body, when new bodies would touch and change the presentation, the scent - would the original imprint inherently disappear? Is it possible to prolong a moment in time? Questions that led me to make the follow-up work, “slip in time”.
Curriculum vitae
Contact:
phone: +45 30 54 16 49
email: carlawedderkopp@gmail.com
Education
2024-2026 Oslo National Academy of the Arts (Master in Fine Art)
2021-2024 UiT, The Art Academy in Tromsø (Bachelor in Fine Art)
2020 Kunsthøjskolen i Holbæk
Selected artistic work
2026, May-Aug. Kunstnernes Hus: Group show, MFA degree show “Antenne Antenne”
2026, Feb-Mar. Kunstnernes Hus, The Academy Room: Solo show, MFA degree project “There is a place that only you have seen”
2025, Sep. Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Seilduken 2: Solo show “it always will be, it has to be”
2024, May-Jun. The Art Academy in Tromsø in collab. with Tromsø Kunstforening: Group show, BFA degree show “The Building is Bigger”
2023, Oct-Nov. Arden Asbæk Gallery: Group show “CONTINUUM OF US”
2023, Feb. Havneterminal Prostneset: Group show “Det tar aldri slutt”
2022, Sep. Open Out Festival: Performance with Queerdos collective
Selected curatorial experience
2023, Feb. Kurant Visningsrom: Curatorial partner in collaboration with artist collective SASUSU Radio
2022, Nov. Kurant Visningsrom: Curating solo show “Interstice + I feel that you are with me+”, George Ridgway
2022, Oct. Kurant Visningsrom: Curating book launch and performance “Taming the wild tongue”, Bianca Hisse & Laura Cemin
2022, Sep. Kurant Visningsrom: Curating club - and art event “PR0 BISTRO”, with artist collective Lady Speed Stix
2022, May. Kurant Visningsrom: Curating solo show “Skogen”, Knut Eirik Molvik
Selected work experience
2025, Aug. Kunsthåndverk.no: “Silkeblød systemkritik” - review of Kiyoshi Yamamoto’s solo show “You Are What You Is” at Munch Museum
2025, Feb. Kunsthåndverk.no: “En brutal opvågning fra hypnosen”- review of Ezra Düzen’s solo show “Swarm Flux” at RAM galleri
2025, Jan. Tromsø International Film Festival in collab. with Kurant Visningsrom: Production and hosting queer podcast “Q-RANT”
2024, Jun. Kiki Klubb in collab. with Arctic Pride: Hosting queer club concept Kiki Klubb
2023, Oct. Kurant Visningsrom in collab. with Open Out Festival: Production and hosting queer podcast “Q-RANT”
2022, Nov. Kurant Visningsrom in collab. with Insomnia Festival: Panelist in public debate “Kunst som Motkraft” about the role of art in times of war
2022, Jan. - 2023, Oct. Kurant Visningsrom: Daily manager & Executive curator
2022, Feb. Barents Spektakel: Producer and curator of radio show “Lyttestasjon9000” with Kurant Visningsrom
Grants
2026, Mar. Kulturdirektoratets diversestipend for nyuddannede kunstnere
Residencies
2026, Oct-Nov. Artist residency at Can Serrat, Barcelona.
2026, Mar. Artist residency in Arcueil, Paris, through Oslo National Academy of the Arts
Upcoming projects
2026, Aug. Kunstnernes Hus: Performance “The callback”
Contact:
phone: +45 30 54 16 49
email: carlawedderkopp@gmail.com
Education
2024-2026 Oslo National Academy of the Arts (Master in Fine Art)
2021-2024 UiT, The Art Academy in Tromsø (Bachelor in Fine Art)
2020 Kunsthøjskolen i Holbæk
Selected artistic work
2026, May-Aug. Kunstnernes Hus: Group show, MFA degree show “Antenne Antenne”
2026, Feb-Mar. Kunstnernes Hus, The Academy Room: Solo show, MFA degree project “There is a place that only you have seen”
2025, Sep. Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Seilduken 2: Solo show “it always will be, it has to be”
2024, May-Jun. The Art Academy in Tromsø in collab. with Tromsø Kunstforening: Group show, BFA degree show “The Building is Bigger”
2023, Oct-Nov. Arden Asbæk Gallery: Group show “CONTINUUM OF US”
2023, Feb. Havneterminal Prostneset: Group show “Det tar aldri slutt”
2022, Sep. Open Out Festival: Performance with Queerdos collective
Selected curatorial experience
2023, Feb. Kurant Visningsrom: Curatorial partner in collaboration with artist collective SASUSU Radio
2022, Nov. Kurant Visningsrom: Curating solo show “Interstice + I feel that you are with me+”, George Ridgway
2022, Oct. Kurant Visningsrom: Curating book launch and performance “Taming the wild tongue”, Bianca Hisse & Laura Cemin
2022, Sep. Kurant Visningsrom: Curating club - and art event “PR0 BISTRO”, with artist collective Lady Speed Stix
2022, May. Kurant Visningsrom: Curating solo show “Skogen”, Knut Eirik Molvik
Selected work experience
2025, Aug. Kunsthåndverk.no: “Silkeblød systemkritik” - review of Kiyoshi Yamamoto’s solo show “You Are What You Is” at Munch Museum
2025, Feb. Kunsthåndverk.no: “En brutal opvågning fra hypnosen”- review of Ezra Düzen’s solo show “Swarm Flux” at RAM galleri
2025, Jan. Tromsø International Film Festival in collab. with Kurant Visningsrom: Production and hosting queer podcast “Q-RANT”
2024, Jun. Kiki Klubb in collab. with Arctic Pride: Hosting queer club concept Kiki Klubb
2023, Oct. Kurant Visningsrom in collab. with Open Out Festival: Production and hosting queer podcast “Q-RANT”
2022, Nov. Kurant Visningsrom in collab. with Insomnia Festival: Panelist in public debate “Kunst som Motkraft” about the role of art in times of war
2022, Jan. - 2023, Oct. Kurant Visningsrom: Daily manager & Executive curator
2022, Feb. Barents Spektakel: Producer and curator of radio show “Lyttestasjon9000” with Kurant Visningsrom
Grants
2026, Mar. Kulturdirektoratets diversestipend for nyuddannede kunstnere
Residencies
2026, Oct-Nov. Artist residency at Can Serrat, Barcelona.
2026, Mar. Artist residency in Arcueil, Paris, through Oslo National Academy of the Arts
Upcoming projects
2026, Aug. Kunstnernes Hus: Performance “The callback”
Current research
There is a lighthouse on the island where my mother lives.
Its windows are narrow and arched at the top. The walls are thick, so the light has to go through a corridor.
Inside the lighthouse, she is crooked and cold and romantic. She lives in her own time, I sense.
I knew we had something in common, the first time I saw her. Like lighthouses, I too am apt to standing still and yearning.
I like how it’s always there. I like how I need to make en effort to go see it. Visiting it can feel like a pilgrimage.
I am interested in assigning human attributes to otherwise inanimate objects. I am also interested in treating an object in my research as if I have a long-term relationship to it.
Right now, I am in a waiting game with lighthouses. They show themselves to me, and I continue writing an ever evolving tale where we speak to each other.
I am for sure constructing fate, same as when i go about something confidently after reading a tarot deck that assured me of my good fortune
There is a lighthouse on the island where my mother lives.
Its windows are narrow and arched at the top. The walls are thick, so the light has to go through a corridor.
Inside the lighthouse, she is crooked and cold and romantic. She lives in her own time, I sense.
I knew we had something in common, the first time I saw her. Like lighthouses, I too am apt to standing still and yearning.
I like how it’s always there. I like how I need to make en effort to go see it. Visiting it can feel like a pilgrimage.
I am interested in assigning human attributes to otherwise inanimate objects. I am also interested in treating an object in my research as if I have a long-term relationship to it.
Right now, I am in a waiting game with lighthouses. They show themselves to me, and I continue writing an ever evolving tale where we speak to each other.
I am for sure constructing fate, same as when i go about something confidently after reading a tarot deck that assured me of my good fortune