Jeannette Ehlers
Jeannette Ehlers is an artist based in Copenhagen, Denmark. She graduated from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts 2006. Her work consists of video art, performance art, photography, and sculpture. In her video and photo works there is often manipulation and editing which has experimental attributes. A lot of her work focuses on the African diaspora and identity and erasure of history tied into Denmark’s role in slavery. Today she continues to work on her art, but is also a chairperson for the Committee of Visual Arts at the Danish Arts Foundation.
This interview was conducted via Skype January 28th, 2020.
KR: What point in your life did you decide that you wanted to make art? And did you go to school for art specifically?
JE: I think in a very early stage, I kind of knew that I wanted to go that direction. I think I was around 14 or something, when I was doing a catwalk for a designer school in Denmark. And at that point, I just knew this is something I wanted. I mean, I knew I wanted to work within the creative fields. I didn't know if I wanted to be a designer or whatever, but I just knew that I wanted to do something like that, because it was really interesting. And then I started kind of narrowing it in. And I started drawing and stuff like that. So, I guess in my late teens, I kind of knew that I wanted to go in the direction of visual arts. I took some courses when I was in my early 20s. And I also, at a later point, applied for the Academy of Fine Arts in Denmark. But it took awhile for me to get in. They have this application, and then they will choose a few people. And I wasn't chosen the first time, so I had to do it again. And then also in between, I also worked and took a break—you know, travel and stuff like that. So I was actually quite old when I attended that art academy. I think I was twenty-four or something. But that's when it started, kind of around my early 20s.
KR: Did you ever think about studying somewhere other than Denmark?
JE: Yes I did. And I'm so sad that I didn't follow up on that, because today when I have to advise young people, I always tell them to go out. I mean, to travel and to try to study somewhere else. But I actually applied for an academy in another European city, and they also wanted to have me for an interview. But at that point, I already knew that I had been accepted at this other school in Denmark, so I decided not to do it. I went there for a year or so, and then I applied again for the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. And I was accepted. So that's how I started in Copenhagen. During my studies in Copenhagen, we traveled with the school, but I didn't go to any other academy or abroad or anything. At that point it wasn't really that popular to do. And yeah, that's something I regret.
KR: My next question is, do you feel that it has been more difficult throughout your career being a woman or being black?
JE: Definitely. First of all, the art world is very male dominated still. I mean, of course there are a lot of women also in the art world, but it's still men or males that will have the majority of exhibitions, and the sales and everything. So we still don't have equality at all. But apart from that, I think in my earlier years, it was really difficult. When I graduated from the academy, I found it really difficult. At that point, I never really thought about it as it was because I was a woman or black, because I didn't really think about it in those terms. But after I started dealing with these issues, it might be a fact. That has affected me a lot in the beginning, but then when I started working and kind of got my small breakthrough in Denmark, I think I've been fortunate.
I don't know if you know about our support system here, but we have a very great support system at least in comparison to a lot of other nations, that the government will support us and you can apply for money. And so I was always supported by that system one way or another. So I feel really fortunate in that way. And it gave me the opportunity to keep working within this field. Of course, at some point I had to take other jobs, but for the most part I have been able to work with my art completely and still do. But I didn't get a lot of exhibitions or anything. So when I started going abroad and getting some kind of recognition for my work outside of Denmark, I feel that then, suddenly, people started to know what I was doing. And then I also had a big exhibition, a solo show with a lot of my works. Not a retrospective, but like works from within the last five years or so that dealt with issues of colonialism. And then suddenly people could see what I was doing. When they saw one piece, I don't think they got what I was doing. But then, when they saw kind of this overview, they understood, OK, this is what she's into. And since then, I think I've been fortunate to have exhibitions now and again. And also I have had sales and stuff, but I don't have a gallery. I think it's still difficult being a woman and also dealing with the issues that I deal with, at least here in Denmark. It's been difficult. So I don't have a gallery. And I feel that that's something that is not really coming up anytime soon. So, I think that's hard and that's very unequal.
KR: My next question is, you work in a lot of different mediums, like you have video art and performance art and photography. Is there one that resonates with you more, and why?
JE: Actually, no, because I like video a lot, but I kind of use the medium that speaks to that particular project. So, I am Queen Mary, of course, the sculpture could not have been a video. I mean, it could be, but it would be a different thing. So when I get ideas, the situation kind of speaks to what kind of medium I need to use.
KR: And from your work that you've done so far, is there one that you feel holds a special place for you or that you feel maybe is your best work?
JE: I have a few. Some of my works are my favorites, but I see everything as it's all linked. I see all of my works as a process, and they are all combined in a way. There's some of my work that kind of works better and expresses in a clearer way what I want. But I have a journey, so I guess all of the works are very important. But some of them definitely have a clearer message. Or just the aesthetics are more clear. I can say, of course, I Am Queen Mary is the biggest manifestation, the biggest project that I have ever made. And it's also a very important piece. But there's so many pieces leading up to that.
KR: So my next question is, do you identify as an experimental artist? And either way, what does experimental art mean to you?
JE: Yeah, I think I identify. I definitely feel that I experiment with my visual imagery. With the issues that I raise, I don't know if it's experimental. I don't think so. I just work within issues that I find very important. So I don't think it's experimental, but yes, I feel that my imagery is an experiment. I think art in many ways is about experimenting. I mean, we are seeking out land or seeking out areas that haven't really been explored before. In a way, of course, the issues that I raised, they have been explored. People are working around these issues. Art is about life. But the way that we produce it and the way that we talk about it and the way that it is always trying to find new ways to deal with it... in that sense, art is experimental. Yeah, by nature.
KR: At what point did your interests begin when it came to themes of colonialism and slavery and those histories?
JE: Actually it goes back to around 2008, where I was on a trip to Ghana in Africa, and I realized that Denmark had been very much involved with the slave trade. I didn't know that. I didn't know how huge it was, actually. And it just blew my mind. And I started working from there. I was very emotionally involved with my new experience, because I felt that I had been lied to for my whole life, not knowing about these things. And I felt so connected with the African part of me at that point. I mean, in a way that I've never been before. It was just like I had never had a chance to really connect with that in Denmark, because it's so white here—like all African influence is completely erased. So I felt so connected, yet very estranged from my country, because of the erasure of that whole history. So it was a very big moment for my personal life, but also for my art, because I changed the whole way of my whole approach to art—not necessarily my methodology, because actually I had been working around erasure for a long time. Before that I had been erasing stuff in images, from a different perspective. But now it made sense, you know, because what I wanted to talk about was the erasure of the history of our colonial past. So it kind of just fit. And then I was also completely blown away by the new encounters that I had, with my lack of knowledge. And it was such a complex feeling, because it was lack of knowledge, and then also a lot of knowledge at the same time. It was like being cut off, de-linked from something, and then linked to something else. There was a lot going on at that point.
KR: Yeah, and me living in the U.S., and then having to explain that the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are part of the U.S. And so many of my classmates are like, “I've never even heard of the U.S. Virgin Islands.” And U.S. history doesn't really talk about the Caribbean territories that they own.
JE: Yeah, yeah. And they're still controlled and colonized. It's really so crazy. In Denmark back in 2008, for instance, I kind of knew a little bit about the former Danish Virgin Islands, but I didn't know a lot, and I didn't know what had happened there. There is this myth here that we sold a paradise or something like that, you know, it's like this crazy way of thinking about us. That was what I knew. And it wasn't mandatory to teach about our colonial past. So, of course, I knew about the transatlantic enslavement trade and all that. But from another perspective, from the perspective of the British—it was always the other nations, you know. So that's how it was. It just slipped my mind. I mean, I was just completely in shock.
KR: Going back to your work: I really liked Black Magic at the White House. I like the concept of bringing African blackness back into Danish history. But I also like the physical editing that you do with the figure. And there's flashes where you can actually see you, and I really like that. So could you elaborate more on the project and the process of that?
JE: Yeah, Black Magic at the White House was made as a comment to this particular house, but also in general, that a lot of Denmark, and especially in Copenhagen and the surroundings, they were built on money from the slave trade. This particular house is working today, functioning as the Danish Prime Minister's official residence. So I found that this house would be a perfect spot to use, because it plays a very important role today as well. I felt that it was a very simple way of talking about these issues. And then, there's a lot of black labor in this house. I mean, they might not have been people directly from the islands working there, but you never know. I mean, maybe they were, maybe they weren't. But definitely their labor has built this house. And I just felt that it was a good way of showing that and bringing back, like you said, the African aspect into it. And then the title comes from, when I made it, it was just a few months after Obama was elected for the first time in the States. So I felt that also because the White House kind of refers to the White House in your country, which was also built by enslaved Africans. In that sense, it is linked to this whole story of enslavement and transatlantic slave trade, which is a global story. And, of course, it's also a play on words, and it kind of sends you in many directions. But that's why I decided okay, let me call it, Black Magic at the White House. Because the House is white, and it also functions not exactly the same way as the White House in the States. But, you know, it's like a governmental building.
KR: So the next piece I wanted to talk about was Whip It Good. When I was researching your film, the official video was filmed in what used to be the West Indies Warehouse and I just thought that was really interesting. And now that is where the Royal Cast statues are, so I liked that you were in that space surrounded by those statues, because it was really dynamic and interesting. And then the video—the pacing at first was very slow, and near the end I noticed that it progressed in intensity and there was a lot of tension with the editing. Was that intentional? Also was that location your first choice?
JE: Yeah. First of all, it was intentional to have this pace. I mean, I wanted to be slow at the beginning and then more and more and more. And that's also actually what I do when I do it live. It starts out slow, and then it gets faster and faster. So I wanted to kind of create that same feeling in the video, too. And I also have to say, I'm not a filmmaker. I mean, I'm a visual artist. And so I just do it the way I do it. I don't have formulas that I work from. I mean, I have this feeling of this works, and this doesn't work. But, yeah, I wanted to create this energy.
And then to your question about if that was the first place. Yeah the warehouse, the West Indies Warehouse or the Royal Cast Collection was definitely chosen specifically for this, because, like Black Magic at the White House, I like to go to specific locations that mean something that is very loaded and create something there. So for Whip It Good, this was definitely a very loaded location for this project. I think it couldn't have been any other place, at least not in Copenhagen. It speaks into history and it speaks into art history as well. So the house, of course, was built as the warehouse. And it speaks to that, but it also speaks to the art history that is there, because it represents this white euro-centric collection, completely erasing other cultures and black culture, even though the house is built from the slave trade. So it kind of intertwines all these histories and narratives.
KR: For that performance, what is the feeling that you have while you're doing it and hitting the whip?
JE: Yeah, I get that question a lot, actually. It really depends on the day and the situation, because sometimes I'm just furious about history and about all these atrocities that were put onto black people and still are, you know. And then at other times, it's more specific. For instance, I had a solo show in London where I performed every day for one week. I did the Whip it Good performance every day. And at that point, there was a lot going on, at least in the media, with all the refugees drowning in the Mediterranean, and it just made me furious. And also there was a lot at the same time with police brutality in the states. I mean, I know that's going on all the time, but it was on the news a lot. Yeah, it kind of was my fuel. I was thinking about that.
KR: And then when I was watching one of the live performances, I know that you have volunteers from the audience also try it.
JE: Yeah. Well, I ask the audience to engage, and some people would happily do it. Some people say they don't want to take the whip. But most of the time, the people are engaged, even though they're not physically part of the project. So I think that it’s a very powerful piece, because it kind of moves people.
KR: When I was watching it, I felt a sort of unease when the white volunteers were doing it, as opposed to the people of color. And I just wanted to know how you felt in those moments?
JE: Definitely. When I did the first time, it kind of struck me, even though the white people volunteer to do it from a point of view of solidarity, it feels different. Yeah. There's a history. And that's also why it occurred to me that history is so linked to us. I mean, we cannot escape it. It's linked to us. So that's really one of the things that I think this performance is showing—that it was so deep. History is so deeply embedded in us.
KR: I also saw Speed Up That Day, with a time lapse of the fort that is combined with Martin Luther King's “I Have a Dream” speech. Why did you choose to match that visual with that specific part of the speech that is less quoted?
JE: Well, again, it's a way of combining different events in history. I guess you can say to connect the dots, just like I Am Queen Mary is a mix of so many different dots that connect to the same thing. I see Queen Mary, her legacy and what she did really is linked to resistance movements before her and later, now, and in the future. So it is kind of to connect all of these events and challenges, because they are connected. And that's the same with Speed Up That Day. As you might know, the fort is where Peter Von Scholten, the Danish governor, had to declare abolition of slavery—that was where it happened. And it's also interesting, because the Danish narrative about that is that he was the good guy who did this. Of course, the other narrative in the U.S.Virgin Islands is that he didn't have a choice. And he's not seen as this great guy. He's a hero in Denmark. He was certainly not a hero back then because he did this. So then I wanted to connect this. Martin Luther King creates a huge event to this point, because he's talking about freedom. He's talking about still having these dreams of being free. And even though you're free, you're not free. And I took out his actual voice, because I feel a lot of people, they already know what he's saying, so I just wanted to have that crowd noise to make it a little more subtle in a way.
KR: So the other video I wanted to talk about was Black is a Beautiful Word. While watching it, I had like this feeling of a gaze, like they were watching me watching them in a way. And then also, as the poem plays, it kind of seems to be talking about women resisting colonialism and slavery. And so to me, that piece felt almost feminist, like women trying to be empowered; and then even the blending of the women in and out in the visuals, almost like they're in solidarity. Could you talk a little bit more about that piece?
JE: Yeah, it's my most recent piece. And it stems from,...like I said before, it's all linked, but, this particular project is really related to this image from the Danish Library Archive of this woman named Sarah. She was a maid for a Danish family back in the nineteen-hundreds, and, like, the way she's sitting in that chair and the way she's looking at the camera... the beholder is really very significant. You can tell she's definitely not feeling well. And so I wanted to kind of make a comment and to link to her and to kind of create a conversation with her.
So, I asked Lesley-Ann Brown, a writer originally from Trinidad and Tobago, like my father, but she lives in Denmark and she was actually born in Brooklyn... and I've been working with her on this project. And I asked her, “can you kind of write a letter to Sarah, where you're asking her...where you're linking the past and the present and the future?” I was telling her that I wanted to work with different women. So we were a lot of voices, but put into one. And yes, she created this beautiful text poem for Sarah. And she's naming a lot of women who resisted and who took up the fight and everything. So I feel it's history, but it's also now. And when I blend all these women in and out, I feel this is also a way, again, to connect to the African diaspora. Because, we are so different, but we also have some of the same struggles. And so it's a way of talking about these things.
KR: Based on the way that last piece felt, would you describe yourself as a feminist artist?
JE: I mean, I have started to come to terms with it. I definitely feel it's important to raise the voice of women and to take our space. And I've come to realize how important it is, and also through my artistic journey and all that. I'm a woman, and what I do is, of course, important, and I just feel that we need more space for that. So if you want to call me a feminist artist, that's fine with me. I definitely don't have a problem with it. I don't walk around calling myself a feminist artist, because I just feel that it's kind of is embedded in what I'm doing. But yeah, I don't reject it.
KR: Yeah, I feel that way too. I don't think that I feel my work is feminist. But if someone ever called my work that, I wouldn't be offended by it.
JE: Oh, no, no, not at all. And also, of course, my latest pieces, they definitely speak to that. So it's fine with me.
KR: The last piece I wanted to talk a little bit about was Black Bullets. Which I know was kind of paired up with the two other videos.
JE: Yeah, yeah. But that's the main piece. So that was inspired by the Hatian Revolution, at some point after Black Magic at the White House. The pieces that I made around that time were focusing more or less on erasure and invisibility. But I also wanted to talk about resistance. So this is the first piece for the first series that I did around resistance and empowerment. That really also made a shift in my artistic practice. I went to Haiti and created these pieces that speak about empowerment and also, of course, the struggle and the difficulties with the Haitian Revolution. But, as some of us know, the Haitian Revolution is so significant and very influential for many of the civil rights movements to come after that.
And also in the area, in the region, the colonizers were scared as hell because of what was going on in Haiti. I just wanted to mention that, because a lot of people don't know about the Haitian Revolution. They know about the French Revolution, but they don't know about the Haitian. Again, you know, there is the erasure of history. So I was very inspired by that. I don't know if you've seen this piece called Atlantic Endless Row in which I erase people from the beach. It's actually one of my first pieces. Black Bullets is kind of inspired by that. But instead of erasing it, I doubled the people.
KR: This was actually the first piece that I saw when I was starting to research. And a revolt is obviously aggressive, but when I saw the piece it was actually really calming. And I guess there's this undertone, because the noise is weird— it's calming, but it also has this vibration that feels tense. It's like this dichotomy. How did you come to put those things together?
JE: I was really inspired by voodoo, of course. The whole Haitian Revolution was inspired by the French Revolution, of course, but also because of voodoo culture and the power of voodoo. In a way it's very intuitive. You're working with your material, and then suddenly you have something that kind of speaks to you. But it kind of reminded me of being in a trance—like determined to do something. You're in this trance. You know, you're in this zone, or something, and you're determined. So kind of this deep, profound feeling of, you know, a trance and of determination. I think that's what it shows or expresses. And I think that's what I have to say.
KR: My last question is, where do you see yourself moving forward with your work? And, is there something that you're currently working on? If you can speak about it.
JE: Actually, right now I was just appointed the chairperson of the Danish Arts Foundations Committee of Visual Arts. So I'm really into that right now. And I'm so super busy with all that, because it's a lot; I'm looking at all these applications, and it's new to me. It takes me away a little bit from my own production right now, but I have different projects. I have some performances coming up. And of course, I also want to make new works. But for now, I'm just focusing on one thing. And it's very inspiring also to see there's a lot of great talent out there. And it's really difficult in that sense that you have to choose something from the other, and you kind of like both, but you need to choose.
For more information about Jeannette Ehler’s projects, honors, screening history and contact information visit her website: http://www.jeannetteehlers.dk/
My name is Keana Ramirez-Acosta and I am a Film and Digital Media student in the Production Concentration at UC Santa Cruz. This is my senior year and I hope to continue filmmaking when I graduate, especially in cinematography. You can find my work on https://keanaramirez.weebly.com.