In the 17th century, all over Europe enclosures started appearing. Fences put an end to the medieval open field system, privatising the common land, pieces of land accessible to all. From then onwards, fences served to ‘clarify’ the ownership and usage rights of a piece of land.

During an arts residency in Gdynia (Poland) in 2021, Alban Karsten finds four local blacksmiths who practice their almost extinct profession by making fences. What does it mean to them to produce objects that cause separation, while at the same time using all their talent to beautify and richly decorate them? In Beauty and Enclosures, Karsten proposes that the blacksmiths work together to create an object that summarises their different ideas of beauty.

Alban Karsten uses his anthropological background to enter into collaborations in order to get to know ‘the other’. He regularly invites professionals from other fields, such as social psychologists, blacksmiths and hypnotists, to participate in an artistic project. With his performances and sculptures, Karsten examines what it means to be an expert (or a charlatan?) and how being an amateur relates to that.

Courtesy of:

Blacksmiths: Leszek Supiński, Zakhar Beznisko, Jerzy Lasek en Remigiusz Bystrek

Producer and interpreter (PL): Alicja Nowicz

Camera: Kitty Maria

Metalwork: Tobias Jansen

Producer (NL): Ellis Kat

Gravel in loan: family Van Bueren, Vijfhuizen

Made possible with the support of:
Amsterdams Fund for the Arts, Mondriaan Fund, Halo Kultura and PietBuxus