Bror Kronstrand Archives - BJÖRN PERBORG

Making the Immortal is a poetical/political non-fiction film and installation by Anna Viola Hallberg and Björn Perborg exploring man’s quest to be remembered. This is made via the life and work of a portrait painter who passed away half a decade ago, Bror Kronstrand. Once an acclaimed artist who travelled the world extensively, today he is almost completely forgotten.

Making the Immortal is a subjective work where two artists reflect upon the traces of a third. The project is predominantly built upon archive material that has been reformatted to the selected narrative(s). Private photographs, newspaper clippings, objects, 16 and 35 mm film are taken further through video, photography, slideshows, facsimiles and enlarged segments of letters.

Making The Immortal, installation by Björn Perborg and Anna Viola Hallberg with Bror Kronstrand. Projection on a book. — Photo: Hendrik Zeitler

Making The Immortal, installation by Björn Perborg and Anna Viola Hallberg with Bror Kronstrand. — Photo: Hendrik Zeitler

Making The Immortal, installation by Björn Perborg and Anna Viola Hallberg with Bror Kronstrand. Double-sided swinging photo frame. — Photo: Hendrik Zeitler

Making The Immortal, installation by Björn Perborg and Anna Viola Hallberg with Bror Kronstrand. Quote from a letter. — Photo: Hendrik Zeitler

Making The Immortal, installation by Björn Perborg and Anna Viola Hallberg with Bror Kronstrand. Film projection. — Photo: Hendrik Zeitler

Making The Immortal, installation by Björn Perborg and Anna Viola Hallberg with Bror Kronstrand. Kronstrand’s self-portraits. — Photo: Hendrik Zeitler

Making The Immortal, installation by Björn Perborg and Anna Viola Hallberg with Bror Kronstrand. Slide projection room. — Photo: Hendrik Zeitler

Making The Immortal, installation by Björn Perborg and Anna Viola Hallberg with Bror Kronstrand. Slide projections. — Photo: Hendrik Zeitler

Year: 2013
Technique: Archive photographs, swivel frames, book, trunk, videos, wallpaper, slide projections
Dimensions: 150 m2 (179.4 yd2)

Making the Immortal, Anna Viola Hallberg och Björn Perborgs andra gemensamma arbete, är i grunden ett porträtt av en porträttmålare som fallit i glömska. Projektet handlar om människans fåfänga strävan att göra sig själv odödlig, att bli ihågkommen.

Utifrån den idag bortglömde målaren Bror Kronstrands (1875-1950) arkiverade fotografier, filmsekvenser, brev och dokument ifrågasätts kanoniseringens, historie- och mytbildningens mekanismer. I fokus står paradoxen i att Kronstrand snabbt glöms bort, trots alla ansträngningar att själv bli erkänd och bevarad.

Making the Immortal tangerar även frågeställningar kring upphovsrätt, gränsen mellan det privata och det offentliga samt dagens kulturpolitiks tendenser att vilja definiera konstnären som entreprenör.