Cars Don't Talk Back, 2021 
Show curated in collaboration with Institut Funder Bakke

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James Bridle, Heine Thorhauge Mathiasen, Gitte Lykkegaard & Vibeke Heide-Jørgensen, Ben Burgis, Jimmie Durham, Gimpo & Mette Hammer Juhl 

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Lending its title from British rock band Queen’s song ”I’m in love with my car” which seems to imply that it will cause you less trouble to have a car than to have a lover. The idea for the exhibition Cars Don’t Talk Back took its offspring in my rebuild Citroen Berlingo. Which with its build in bed and kitchen setup seems to further reinforce the promise of freedom and control initially associated with the car as such.

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From here on the show drifts further into the complicated emotional waters produced by the co-existence of humans and cars - and dwells on ideas of boredom where the car becomes the prop for an escape - the bittersweet sexy loneliness of a solitary night drive with your favourite track on the stereo superbly framed by its own setup. And finally the show takes a sneak peek at the future and starts wondering – if the inventions of Henry Ford initiated a capitalism without which we are completely incapable of rendering the world as we know it – what will then be the consequence of the autonomous car? What kind of impact may it have on the infrastructure – urban planning – insurance – the economy – surveillance etc?
And what will happen to the idea of freedom and control?