Research

Since the mid-1990s, Esbjerg Art Museum has sought to find new ways of presenting modern art. At the same time we have initiated research into the experiences of the art museum audience. Our choice to work in this research area should be seen in connection with the fact that we, based on semiotics, regard the conveying of aesthetic experiences to our guest as our most important task.

Seen from our point of view it is through the encounter with the works that meaning and aesthetic experiences emerge.

This is why we continuously strive to create the best possible conditions for letting the works open up to our guests – and for making the guests open up to our works. The research programme that investigates both audience experiences and the dissemination work of the museum is a comprehensive one which lies at the very heart of the museum’s efforts and activities, and it is fully integrated in the dissemination work of the museum. Thus the results of every single research activity will be used directly in exhibitions or new mediation initiatives. And reversely, new mediation initiatives may become the object of research-based investigation. All projects are carried out in cooperation with research psychologist Bjarne Sode Funch, Ph.D. During our cooperation, Bjarne Funch has obtained a doctorate based on his dissertation, The Psychology of Art Appreciation (Museum Tusculanum Press, 1997).

Since 2003, several external researchers have worked on the projects: Professor of Semiotics Per Aage Brandt (Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio), Professor and composer Karl Aage Rasmussen (The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus), Professor of Museology Eilean Hooper-Greenhill (University of Leicester), Ass. Prof. of Art History Anders Troelsen (Aarhus University), and Ass. Prof. of Art History Rune Gade (University of Copenhagen).

Current exhibition and research project:

Wunderkammer 2018-

Wunderkammer is a research and exhibition project in three parts for which Esbjerg Art Museum received The Vision Exhibition Award in 2017. With the award, The Bikuben Foundation honours a visionary concept capable of ‘reinventing exhibition formats to let art take centre stage’; formats which the award lets the winning institution realize.

The aim of the entire Wunderkammer project is to develop a new exhibition format. Often art is presented and experienced as something extrinsic from life. In this project, however, we want to develop an exhibition form which addresses its audience in such a way that it will have an impact on their lives. Nothing less.

The concept ’Wunderkammer’ has its origins in a time before we divided different subjects as e.g. humanities and science into different fields of interest and research, and before we developed the taxonomies that we today take for granted and use to structure and understand the world.

It’s our thesis that the chaotic and inhomogeneous presentation which characterizes the Wunderkammer, can provoke the visitors’ curiosity and encourage them to explore the art pieces in the exhibitions. It is also our thesis that it will lead to a personal and strong experience with art that might find a resonance in every aspect of human life.

Reasearch publications

Finsen, Christiane og Inge Merete Kjeldgaard (red.) (2021). Wunderkammer 3 – DNArt. Esbjerg: Esbjerg Kunstmuseum. Bookletten kan købes i museumsbutikken.

Højsgaard, Mette (2020). “Richard Mortensens Esto es malo (Dette er ondt) – empati og engagement”. Inge Merete Kjeldgaard (red.). Esbjerg: Esbjerg Kunstmuseum. Bookletten kan købes i museumsbutikken.

Finsen, Christiane og Inge Merete Kjeldgaard (red.) (2019). Wunderkammer 2 – mirabilia. Esbjerg: Esbjerg Kunstmuseum. Bookletten kan købes i museumsbutikken.

Finsen, Christiane (2019). “Betragter, værk, verden: Museumsformidling mellem underholdning og ny erkendelse”. Nordisk Museologi 2019, 1, 65-81.

Finsen, Christiane og Inge Merete Kjeldgaard (red.) (2018). Wunderkammer 1 – flydende form. Esbjerg: Esbjerg Kunstmuseum. Bookletten kan købes i museumsbutikken.

Finsen, Christiane og Inge Merete Kjeldgaard (2017). “Bastard – det kunstneriske blik”. In Claus Carstensen (red.). Shibboleth. Esbjerg: Esbjerg Kunstmuseum, 13-29 (indeholder også en tekst af Anne Gregersen). Bogen kan købes i museumsbutikken.

Finsen, Christiane, Inge Merete Kjeldgaard og Anne Gregersen (2017). “English summary”. In Claus Carstensen (red.). Shibboleth. Esbjerg: Esbjerg Kunstmuseum, 30. Bogen kan købes i museumsbutikken.

Kjeldgaard, Inge Merete (2017). ”Kunst i kontekst – på vej mod en ny museumstype”. Quadratura. Skrifter i dansk kunsthistorie 5.

Finsen, Christiane (2017). “Kunst i kontekst – mellem institution og livspraksis”. Quadratura. Skrifter i dansk kunsthistorie 6.

Finsen, Christiane (2016). ”Helt konkret – mellem kunstnerisk idealisme og politisk realisme”. In Lise Jeppesen (red.). Idealer. Konkret kunst dengang og nu. Randers: Randers Kunstmuseums Forlag, 50-69 (indeholder også tekster af Mette Højsgaard og Jens Tang Kristensen). Kataloget kan købes i museumsbutikken.

Gottlieb, Lennart (2013). ”Langeliniebilledet – om Edvard Weies På Langelinie (1923) ”. In Inge Merete Kjeldgaard (red.). Mellem virkelighed og utopi. Edvard Weies Langelinie i nyt perspektiv. Esbjerg: Esbjerg Kunstmuseum (indeholder også en række mindre tekster af Christiane Finsen) e-pub.

Kjeldgaard, Inge Merete (red.) (2013). What am I doing here? Esbjerg: Esbjerg Kunstmuseum (indeholder også interviews med Nina Saunders og Ernesto Spinelli ved Bjarne Sode Funch). Kataloget kan købes i museumsbutikken.

Funch, Bjarne Sode, Louise Lidang Krøyer, Elisabeth Wildt og Tone Roald (2012). “Long-term effect of aesthetic education on visual awareness”. Journal of Aesthetic Education 46, no. 4, 96-108.

Funch, Bjarne Sode (2012). ”Kunstens græsrødder – på vej mod nye udstillingsprincipper”. Danske museer 4, 2012, 22-24.

Kull, Kalevi og Ekaterina Velmezova (2011). ”Biosemiotics in a Gallery”. Biosemiotics 5(3), Dec. 2012.

Kjeldgaard, Inge Merete og Morten Skriver (2011). Livstegn. Esbjerg: Esbjerg Kunstmuseum (indeholder også tekster af Jesper Hoffmeyer, Morten Skriver, Kalevi Kull og Frederik Stjernfelt). Kataloget kan købes i museumsbutikken.

Funch, Bjarne Sode, Louise Lidang Krøyer, Tone Roald, Elisabeth Wildt og Birgitte Ørom (2009). ”Børn i nærkontakt med kunst”. Billedpædagogisk tidsskrift nr. 3, 2009, 4-10.

Brandt, Per Aage, Claus Carstensen, Bjarne Sode Funch og Inge Merete Kjeldgaard (red.) (2008). The Map is not the Territory. Esbjerg: Esbjerg Kunstmuseum (indeholder også tekster og artikler af Per Aage Brandt, Claus Carstensen, Terry Atkinson, Ferdinand Ahm Krag, Joachim Koester, Christian Vind, Ana Margarida Abrantes, Nicholas Davis, Yanna Popova, Mario De Caro and Stephen L. White og Frederik Stjernfelt). Kataloget kan købes i museumsbutikken.

Götke, Povl, Per Bak Jensen Bjarne Sode Funch og Inge Merete Kjeldgaard (red.) (2007). Ansigt. Esbjerg: Esbjerg Kunstmuseum. Kataloget kan købes i museumsbutikken.

Kjeldgaard, Inge Merete (2005). “Værk i kontekst” (kort introduktion). I A.H. Larsen og B. Ingemann (red.). Ny dansk museologi. Århus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag, 135-140.

Funch, Bjarne Sode (2004). “Introducing People to Art: A Study on the Influence of Art Introductions ”. Journal of Visual Art Practice vol. 3, 1, 2004, 47-60.

Funch, Bjarne Sode(2004). ”Mellem musik og billedkunst”. Passepartout 23, 2004, 135-153.

Guldberg, Martin (2004). ”Syng et maleri”. Passepartout 23, 2004, 130-134.

Kjeldgaard, Inge Merete  (2004). “Æstetisk krydsfelt”. Passepartout 23, 2004, 123-129.

Kjeldgaard, Inge Merete (2004). ”Mellem musik og billedkunst”. Mark og Montre 2004, 29-34.

Funch, Bjarne Sode (2003). “Den fænomenologiske metode i museologisk forskning”. Nordisk museologi 2003, 1, 17-38.

Funch, Bjarne Sode (2000). “Tipos de Apreciação Artística e sua Aplicação na Educação de Museu”. In João Pedro Fróis (red.). Educação Estética e Artística; Abordagens transdisciplinares. Lisboa: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 109-125.

Funch, Bjarne Sode (2001). “Hvorfor ser vi på billedkunst”. Nordisk museologi 2000,1, 87-96.

Funch, Bjarne Sode (1999). “Synsoplevelse og billedkunst: En eksistentiel-fænomenologisk model”. Bulletinen, nr. 27, 1999, 8-13

Kjeldgaard, Inge Merete (1999). ”Æstetiske oplevelser for alle”. I Hanne Lundgreen Nielsen, Mette Jørgensen og Mette Lise Illemann (red.). Formidling af kunst til børn og unge. Landsforeningen Børn, Kunst og Billeder 1999, pp. 11-13.

Erhardt, Birgitte (1998). ”Skal det virkelig være kunst”. Humaniora 1998, #1.

Funch, Bjarne Sode (1997). “The Art Museum in Partnership with Schools”. Museum International 1997, no.194, 38-41.

Funch, B.S. (1997). “Billedkunst i psykologisk belysning”. Psyke & Logos 18, 1997, 132-147.