Clara Hastrup 

Untitled, 2024 

A seemingly ordinary teacup rotates in its saucer according to the direction of the wind. Invisible at first glance, a hidden motor beneath the table on which the saucer rests synchronises the cup’s subtle movements with a low inertia wind direction sensor mounted on the roof of the Kunsthall. As the wind shifts from north to south, east to west, so too does the cup turn. Untitled draws on Clara Hastrup’s ongoing interest in the translation of external, often imperceptible forces into intimate, bodily gestures. Here, a phenomenon as vast and seemingly abstract as atmospheric movement is made present at a domestic scale in the delicate twitch of porcelain, creating a kind of choreography conducted by the sky.

Originally developed during a 2024 residency at Van Gogh House in London, Hastrup’s teacup is rooted in cycles of weather, translation, and the quiet life of objects. In Bergen, as in London, Untitled stages a quiet negotiation between nature and technology, the poetic and the mechanical, the atmospheric and the domestic. It speaks to the artist’s broader practice, which merges disparate materials to question our sensory relationship with the everyday and the systems that shape it. Hastrup’s work often straddles the absurd and the poignant, prompting reflection on the gaps between perception and control, action, and reaction. Moreover, it leaves us with unanswered questions about imperceptible forces, whether it be those that turn the cup, or those that shape our own bodily movements.