Göran Hägg creates props and scenery for fabulous narratives. Viewers can fill in the blanks with their own imagination and experiences. Since the 1980s, Hägg has explored a singular figurative imagery featuring different kinds of machinery. Building on the legacy of Per Olov Ultvedt and Jean Tinguely, Hägg often focuses on mechanical constructions and installation art. In a blend of engineering and artistic vision, his works form a unique universe. His whimsical, often mobile, sculptures resemble real-life objects. Strange replicas of aeroplanes, submarines and automobiles seem to come from a parallel universe that is similar but not identical to our own. Humour and seriousness are intertwined in fragmentary scenarios with dystopian undercurrents.

At Pilane, we now have a hangar with three aeroplanes, and a landing strip outside. Each vessel is accompanied by a fully-equipped pilot, in a suit that hides all individual traits and transforms the figures into anonymous heroes or antiheroes. The suggestive total installation, which can be both amusing and unsettling depending on the viewer’s perspective, was built from scratch. Detailed, fascinating and quirky, it feels like stepping into a time machine at your peril.

BUTTERFLY

A gigantic, bright-yellow butterfly has settled among the rocks at Pilane. This sculpture Butterfly by Göran Hägg is a larger-than-life version of a monarch. Like a surviving species from the past, the butterfly stands more than two metres tall and appears both mighty and fragile. The monarch is known for its long migrations and its phenomenal ability to find its way. In autumn, the young butterflies gather in huge flocks and fly south to the place their mothers came from in the spring, mainly California and Mexico. The most remarkable thing is that they can find that particular spot without ever having been there. Despite many ongoing studies, the monarch’s navigational capacity is still an enigma to scientists and a constant source of inspiration for writers of fiction and artists. On account of its metamorphoses, the butterfly has become a symbol of new beginnings on several levels. It is associated with rebirth, change and voyages of learning. At Pilane, Hägg’s Butterfly is a companion piece to the aeroplanes in the hangar. Nature’s own expert navigators, alongside the pilots and their flying machines.

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