"In 1996 Sanne Kofod Olsen organised the exhibition Between You and Me. I was living in London at the time, where I was studying, and it was the first time that I participated in an exhibition at Overgaden. I particularly remember installing the show: Tommy Støckel, who was also participating, sat for days before the opening plaiting a very long paper-chain. And I created a work of my own on the first floor, entitled Ventilation. I had placed some rubber bands and cardboard wedges in the windows, which kept them open and created a draught. The work was fragile, because it could very easily be overlooked or mistaken for a practical measure in the summer heat. People really had to look closely to discover that there was an intention behind it. It was therefore associated with a certain tension for me, and I think this was one of the first times that I felt a kind of addiction to this state of mind, in which I was caught up in the act of exhibiting, and inserting a full stop or a comma in the artistic process.
By the time I applied for a solo exhibition in 2010, I knew Overgaden really well – not just as a place where I had seen many important exhibitions by friends and colleagues, but also as a place where I had painted walls, hung up works, opened windows etc. As I prepared myself for There are pockets, she said, it proved to be a great advantage to have this relationship with the exhibition spaces, as it gave me a completely different basis for the work of planning the exhibition. After many years of working collectively, it was important for me to have a solo show. It helped to give me a kind of self-confidence, not least because Overgaden is a place where you are allowed to experiment within the framework, where the exhibition is regarded as a whole entity and where communication often forms part of the work. Throughout the planning and installation stages it is possible to change details right up to the last minute. There is an understanding of the fact that something also happens during the installation of an exhibition.
In my opinion, it is essential to have a place with this kind of openness. Even though it may not result in a product that can be used for a specific purpose, in the long run it is enormously important for the development of an art scene which is dynamic, experimental and interesting, both for the art- ists and for those who experience it and are interested in art. This kind of innovative, investigative approach is incredibly important, and here Overgaden plays a leading role."