Oscar Furbacken

Oscar Furbacken

The projects and works of Swedish artist Oscar Furbacken often emerge from observations of small natural phenomena. In his practice he draws energy from seemingly diverging fields such as poetry, botany, spirituality and physics. In order to study how we experience and respond to different elements of nature he experiments with materials, optics, light and scale. Over the years Furbacken has develop lens-based projects, meticulous sculptures, illusory peep-hole objects and various immersive installations raising questions about how we perceive the world around us. The artist also advocates a new attitude towards the wild nature of urban surroundings by portraying overseen microcosms of street corners as grandiose sceneries. A major part of the artists production emphasizes the key role of lichens and moss in the various ecosystems of our planet. Some fungi have adapted to extreme conditions such as deserts, mountain tops or forest fire remnants. Certain mycelium can even restore toxic wastes sites, thus allowing for plant life to return after the abuse of industry. By visualizing the fragile networks of organisms often taken for granted, Furbacken urges us to consider our impact upon a world on which we all depend.