Heidi Hove Pedersen (DK)
ORGANIZER FOR DEADPAN EXCHANGE I
CO-ORGANIZER FOR DEADPAN EXCHANGE II
PARTICIPATING ARTIST DEADPAN EXCHANGE III
BIO
Heidi Hove Pedersen was born in Denmark in 1976 and currently lives and works in Copenhagen. She graduated at Funen Art Academy (DK) in 2007 and she has also been studying one year (05/06) at the MFA program at California College of the Arts in San Francisco (US). Furthermore, she is a member of the exhibition site, Koh-i-noor in Copenhagen and The Berlin Office in Kreutzberg, Berlin.
The work of Heidi Hove Pedersen is based on simple ideas and actions. The medium is primarily sculpture, photography, and video and her starting point is the nearby environment. Subjects and tales from everyday life are created and emphasized. Common and ordinary objects are being copied, modified, transformed, and placed in new connections for the purpose of changing the meaning or perception of how we look and deal with these in our daily lives. One example is The Prohibition Sign exhibited at Odense Airport, which thematizes the import of an American phenomenon: the privatization and the regulations of the public space. The sign "No dogs, No Alcohol & Don't feed the Birds" is a copy of a sign from the Wharf in Santa Cruz (US).
Heidi is very influenced by her social surroundings. Especially, peoples habits and behavior patterns toward the objects and animals, we surround ourselves with, have attracted her attention. One example is the object, Girl on Blanket that is a six-year-old girl transformed into an army- and princess dressed Bratz doll. The transformation shifts the object from a familiar toy to an alienated and threatening object that has a powerful signaling value. Humor is also an important factor in her work and it is often used to create a dialogue with the audience. That is very apparent in the objects from the series: Me and my truck. Among other things, it consists of mini-models of people's trucks made of matches. Man has a need to demonstrate that one is alive, that one matters, that one makes a difference in the world. However, the matchbox trucks now become small and indifferent. Heidi enlightens these subjects because these everyday dealings contribute to influence our society in a certain direction. For instance, it may be difficult to take a stand regarding great political and economic questions, but our domestic animals and other things, with which we surround ourselves with every day, we can decide over and control to a certain degree.
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