Totally tubular

Kvasbo is one of the most internationally renowned artists in Norway. He has been working with clay and ceramic, developing techniques to explore the reformative presentation of ceramics. His routine work, as the film shows, often involves intense physical labor on a daily basis, through which he addresses topics such as the existence of humankind, collective memories and identity seeking.

His works have been exhibited worldwide and he is currently president of the International Academy of Ceramics, an official partner of UNESCO, a role which he accepted in 2018 and will occupy until 2024.

In his creation, Kvasbo views tubes as a basic unit to support the lives of people. He says that veins are the tubes that transport blood and oxygen all around the body. Meanwhile, daily life and production activities, such as cooking, laundry, agricultural irrigation and the supply of industrial fuels, largely depend on the proper function of tubes.

His work presents a "contest" between human strength and the energies of matter: He presses, stretches and sculpts the clay again and again, carefully reaching a point of balance whereby the tubes are piled to various angles, but stand firm. He is fascinated that a tube has two openings, from which the tubes' inner forces can explode, and he wants to present that energy or pressure to the viewers.