Punctures in the Periphery. Show-Bix and the Media Conscious Practice of Per Højholt.

Authors

  • Morten Søndergaard Museum of Contemporary Art, Roskilde

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7557/13.1754

Keywords:

Per Højholt, Show-Bix,

Abstract

Around 1967 and onwards, Per Højholt (1923-2004) performs a series of punctures in the periphery of a small and self-conscious avant-garde in Denmark - experiments that combine most of the known art forms and genres in a still more active dialogue with new media and technology.

One of the first things Højholt engaged himself in at the time was Show-Bix, which is best described as an artist group consisting of the photographer and visual artist Poul Ib Henriksen, composer Gunner Møller Pedersen, and Per Højholt (at the time described largely as a poet). The group was operative from 1968 and until 1971, a period during which it conducted a series of complex experiments involving an audience as well as a media consciousness which is quite unique in Denmark - perhaps even more so today. In fact, I claim that Show-Bix is the visible proof of a paradigmatic change in Per Højholt's artistic practice, as well as in the overall definition of the contemporary art scene.

Author Biography

Morten Søndergaard, Museum of Contemporary Art, Roskilde

Morten Søndergaard, PhD on the thesis: Show-Bix & the Media Conscious Practice of Per Højholt 1967->, at Roskilde University in 2007. Media Art Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Roskilde (since 1999). He has edited books on different aspects of (new) media-theory and practices, e.g.: Digital Bauhaus (Copenhagen 2004), Mellem Ørerne - PERformer Højholt. Mediekunst 1967-> (Copenhagen 2004), and Get Real: Art + Real Time (New York 2005).

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Published

2007-05-01

How to Cite

Søndergaard, Morten. 2007. “ and the Media Conscious Practice of Per Højholt”. Nordlit, no. 21 (May):115-39. https://doi.org/10.7557/13.1754.