Related Links:
Facebook Announcement and Video | | Jonas’ Tumblr | | Roskilde Festival Official Site

More information about the exhibition was added to the Stolper + Friends web site around November 25:

Stolper+Friends is pleased to announce Magne Furuholmen, ‘Echo’, a solo exhibition of 16 new works, opening Saturday November 26 at 1pm.

‘Echo’, showing in place of ‘Futura Plus’, the previously cancelled show, comprises oil on hospital sheet and oil on paper works. Large in scale the works range from 1.1m x 1.1m to 85cm x 2m, the latter dictated by the dimensions of the hospital sheet. The works were made during the same period, and draw on the same surrounding life and death themes, as ‘Futura Plus’.

Apparently there was an article in the VG paper edition on November 25 about the exhibition, a photo of the article is on Stolper + Friends Facebook page.

Update: Thanks to Jakob at a-ha-live.com, here is an update about the exhibition based on that VG article and response from art critics:

Magne’s new solo exhibition Echo opened at Stolper + Friends in Oslo yesterday.

It consists of four large monotypes on hospital sheets, originally intended for Futura Plus, and a selection of twelve smaller monotypes on sheets and paper.

Although commercially successful, Magne’s art hasn’t always been embraced by art critics. But Echo gets a glowing review by VG’s Lars Elton, who gives the exhibition a 5 out of 6 rating and describes Magne as an innovator in his field:

“This is an exhibition that takes the field of art a step further. Not only does Magne Furuholmen really make himself respected, he also moves graphic print techniques forward”, Elton writes.

“(…)Visual games with letters has been a dominating motif for Furuholmen since the 1990s. And you would think this theme had been worn out by now. But with these new works he reaches a new level, partly because the images are visually strong, but first and foremost because the letters and the words they form have been put into a meaningful context.

The works provide a level of seriousness and reflection that evoke emotions. When you add the groundbreaking formats and the innovative technique, this becomes an exhibition that moves the field of art a step forward”, Elton writes in his review.

Echo is on display at Stolper + Friends until January 15th.

Photo: magnef.org

Related Links

Photos on Stolper + Friends Facebook: Photo 1 | | Photo 2 | | Photo 3

Interview with styletv.no: Magne Furuholmen lager kunst på blodige laken fra akutten

There was a special preview of the exhibition on November 9 for members of the press. Magne was present, along with Kjell Nupen, Ørnulf Opdahl and Queen Sonja of Norway. You can see pictures of some of the works in Dagbladet.

Photo: magnef.org

NRK showed a documentary about Magne on November 7 called ‘Dance for Daddy’, which included – among other things – a lot of footage of Magne’s creative process around ‘Futura Plus’. Watch the program on YouTube: Part 1 | | Part 2

Please see this post for more information about the original planned exhibition at Stolper + Friends on September 1, which was later cancelled.

Related Links

Media:

• 11/10/2011 – Dagbladet: Droppet utstilling etter terrorangrepet
• 11/10/2011 – TV2: Stiller ut blodige sykehuslaken på dronning Sonjas utstilling
• 11/09/2011 – VG: a-ha-Magne: – Modig av dronningen
• 11/09/2011 – Dagbladet: - Se! Her er mine bilder
• 11/09/2011 – Aftenposten: - Jeg har fått lov til å svette
• 11/09/2011 – Adressa: Dronning Sonja spent før kunstdebuten
• 11/09/2011 – NRK: Stor interesse for dronning Sonjas kunstverk
• 08/31/2011 – The Art Newspaper: Artist cancels provocative show after Norway terror attack

Newsletters from magnef.org:

• 11/10/2011 – Futura Plus
• 08/04/2011 – Stolper + friends – urgent press release
• 07/17/2011 – Stolper + friends opens in Oslo

See larger image here.

There was a press release about the project on Stolper + Friends Facebook Page:

- SHED 13 presents DAMIEN HIRST – Butterflies at Tjuvholmen, Oslo

Thursday 22nd September, 2011 will see the unveiling Damien Hirst’s butterflies on SHED 13 at Tjuvholmen. Oslo. To coincide with the launch of new Oslo gallery STOLPER+FRIENDS, and its inaugural exhibition, ‘The Souls’, Damien Hirst has realized a grand outdoor project, to cover Shed 13 in 6 giant butterflies. SHED 13, a huge and dominant warehouse building in the heart of Oslo’s thriving Tjuvholmen district, will thus be transformed into a spectacular outdoor platform for international art.

This first project takes 6 of the butterflies featured in Hirst’s ‘Souls’ project and enlarges them to impressive super-sized proportions, as if 6 butterflies have taken flight from the gallery space and settled onto SHED 13. Measuring more than 6 metres and printed on vinyl-foil, they cover both the north and west facades of Shed 13.

Illuminated at night, both passers-by and Tjuvholmen residents and visitors will be able to enjoy this spectacular display of colour both day and night. Tjuvholmen with its large selection of restaurants and galleries has become an important destination for art and culture, and SHED 13 – due for removal in 2014 after work is completed on the Tjuvholmen redevelopment, offers an opportunity to display sensational large-scale imagery on an outdoor facade.

STOLPER+FRIENDS gallery opened on September 1st to great success with Damien Hirst ‘The Souls’, which runs until October 2 and offers a rare opportunity to view a truly stunning collection of Hirst’s prints and paintings. Magne Furuholmen, Director, Stolper & Friends, & co-curator of Shed 13, says, “Shed 13 is the perfect space to make temporary statements of different kinds on a grand scale. We hope this Hirst project is the first of many, from exciting artists from around the world and the other galleries in the area.”

SHED 13 was made possible through collaborative support from:

Oslo Muncipality, Oslo Port Authority, Tjuvholmen Development AS, Tjuvholmen Trade Quarterly, Damien Hirst and Stolper + Friends

Photo: Stolper + Friends

Media:

• 09/25/2011 – Big butterflies in Oslo
• 09/25/2011 – Other Criteria: NEW: Damien Hirst ‘The Souls’ Enlarged to Epic Proportions
• 09/22/2011 – Dagbladet: Damien Hirsts sommerfugler lyser opp oslonatta
• 09/22/2011 – Oslopuls: Kjendiskunst i stort format

Video: NRK – Kveldsnytt 22.09.11

Yesterday, Apparatjik made their second album available for free download on their Facebook Page. The album is called ‘Square Peg In A Round Hole’, and it is part of a larger project which also includes an iPad magazine and live performances in 11 cities next year.

The free album download is only the first draft, however. Apparatjik has announced that they intend to release 10 more versions of the album weekly, leading up to a final, official album release on February 21, 2012. The official release will incorporate input from the public via the band’s Facebook Page, in the form of comments, suggestions and poll responses.

If you want a more direct way of contributing to the album, you can also obtain the full stem files from apparatjik.com, by providing your e-mail address and agreeing to the terms of the music collaboration project. Once you have the stem files and the audio mixing software of your choice, you can remix the songs yourself and upload the result to Apparatjik for their consideration. The deadline to participate is February 7, 2012.

Here is a statement released by Apparatjik:

Apparatjik is chiefly a conduit for creative trip-wiring: first you find out how a thing works, then you break it. all children learn this way. all adults too. on the new album we have collaborated with other artists and now we want to invite our fans and other musicians to contribute by commenting, voting for ideas or taking raw elements from the album and work with, embellish and submit back to us. we have collaborated with our fans in this way for visual projects like ‘everybody is a pixel’ at the Neue Nationgalerie in Berlin and our new iPad magazine ‘apparatjik world’. this time we’ll try with music.

Related Press

• 01/24/2012 – Bowers & Wilkins: Apparatjik offer exclusive 24-bit studio quality version of their album
• 01/24/2012 – Epitonic: Epitonic’s Most Anticipated Albums of 2012
• 12/14/2011 – The 405: Apparatjik announce new album ‘Square Peg In A Round Hole’
• 12/14/2011 – Drowned In Sound: Apparatjik release new album, ask people to collaborate on the final version
• 12/14/2011 – Clash Music: Apparatjik release new music, multimedia project gathers pace

Everyone Is One Bar Collaboration Project

Posted 11/16/2011:

Apparatjik has released a magazine for the iPad, which contains performance videos, photos, fan art, interview clips, links to external press, interactive games – and a brand new full-length Apparatjik album! As far as we know, this marks the first time an artist has released an album embedded within the iPad magazine format.

The new Apparatjik album is called ‘Square Peg in a Round Hole’, and is currently only available commercially via the iPad magazine. However Apparatjik fans who planted a tree as part of the agreeneryouniverse project were given a free download of the album via e-mail on 11/15/2011.

If you are not one of the ones who planted a tree or who own an iPad, don’t worry – there will be a wider release of the album in more formats in due course. We also understand that the version of the album on the iPad is not necessarily the final version.

‘Square Peg in a Round Hole’ Tracklist:

01. Time Police (3:23) | | discussion
02. Sequential (3:18) | | discussion
03. Your Voice Needs Subtitles (4:04) | | discussion
04. Signs of Waking Up (3:36) | | discussion
05. Pakt (1:25) | | discussion
06. Combat Disco Music (3:42) | | discussion
07. Do It Myself (3:07) | | discussion
08. .,,. (dot comma comma dot) (5:13) | | discussion
09. (Don’t Eat The Whole) Banana (3:23) | | discussion
10. Gzmo (4:14) | | discussion
11. Super-positions (1:31) | | discussion
12. Control Park (3:51) | | discussion

General album discussions: West of the Moon Forum | | Apparatchick Forum

The magazine is called ‘Apparatjik World – Issue A’ and it was released on 11/11/11. It is available for free in iTunes stores worldwide. The second issue is due out in February.

Here are a couple of screen shots from the magazine:

Related Links:

Mike Perkins draws 6-page comic for Apparatjik World

Newsletters from Apparatjik.com: 11/22/2011 | | 11/29/2011 | | 12/06/2011

Setlist:

There hasn’t been a full setlist posted anywhere (that I could find), but based on discussion and youtube videos, it looks like the following songs at least were included (not necessarily in this order):

(Don’t eat the whole) Banana
Gzmo
Snow Crystals
Datascroller
Time Police
Arrow and Bow

Video Playlist:

Related Links:

Official Announcements: Apparatjik Facebook Event | | Apparatjik Bulletin | | Festival Program Page

Tickets: BUY NOW | | Info in English

Fan Forum Discussions/Info: Apparatchick Forum | | West of the Moon

Blogs: Apparatchick.com | | Magne F LiveJournal

Videos: Keep an eye on the Steirischer Herbst YouTube Channel following the event for any uploads.

Promotional material from the festival

With thanks to Claire for the original printed material!

Bookmark, front and back:

Flyer front:

Flyer back:

Festival Program:

Large files for download:
Bookmark front | | Bookmark back | | Flyer front | | Flyer back | | Festival Program

To coincide with the final two Apparatjik performances at the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin 9pm on 26 and 27 of March, we are zonked to present COMBAT DISCO MUSIC in digital resolution glory.

What the press could have said:
‘The best single ever – at least since Kung Fu Fighting’
‘Apparatjik is something else’
‘Bauhaus as a farce’
‘Combat Disco Music flies in the face of flies everywhere!’
‘What does this have to do with anything?’
Download available now on iTunes or apparatjik.com.
Listen to a full stream of the song on soundcloud.

Related Links:

Announcement: Apparatjik Bulletin (1) | | Apparatjik Bulletin (2) | | a-ha Official Site

Fan Forum Discussions/Info: West of the Moon | | Apparatchick

Tracklist:

01. Deadbeat (2:52) | | discussion
02. Datascroller (2:58) | | discussion
03. Snow Crystals (4:32)
04. Supersonic Sound (3:24) | | video | | discussion
05. Arrow and Bow (4:20) | | discussion
06. In A Quiet Corner (3:35) | | discussion
07. Josie (3:30) | | discussion
08. Antlers (3:20) | | video | | discussion
09. Electric Eye (6:02) | | video | | a-ha.com announcement | | discussion (1) | | discussion (2)
10. Look Kids (4:52) | | discussion
11. Quiz Show (2:33) | | discussion

Bonus Tracks on iTunes release:

12. One Less Thing To Worry About (4:27) | | discussion
13. 4 Can Keep A Secret If Three Of Them Are Dead (4:14) | | discussion
14. Frozen Fingers (5:43)

Deluxe Edition videos:

1. Antlers
2. Electric Eye
3. Snow Crystals (CTM Mash up)
4. Supersonic Sound
5. Datascroller (the film)

• ‘Electric Eye’ – Released digitally on November 30, 2009 and on vinyl on December 29, 2009
• ’4 Can Keep a Secret if 3 of Them Are Dead’ – Released digitally for free download on May 21, 2010
• ‘Datascroller’ – Released as a promo single and digital download on July 19, 2010

More Info: Apparatjik Bulletin | | a-ha Official Site | | Wikipedia | | Links to album reviews

Buy the Album: Amazon.co.uk | | iTunes | | The Outland

Fan Forum Discussions/Info: West of the Moon | | Apparatchick

Media – Album Announcement:

• 01/29/2010 – Soundvenue: ‘Albumdebut fra Apparatjik på vej’
• 01/29/2010 – Consequence of Sound: ‘Apparatjik album due out February 1st’
• 01/28/2010 – Coldplaying: ‘Apparatjik debut album to be released on 1st February’
• 01/28/2010 – Twenty-Four Bit: ‘Apparatjik to Perform in Glass Cube, Drop Debut Album’
• 11/30/2009 – Drowned In Sound: Mew’s Jonas Bjerre teams up with Coldplay and a-ha members to form supergroup
• 11/24/2009 – The Guardian: ‘Coldplay and A-ha side project announce debut album’

Media – Selected Reviews:

• 07/20/2010 – QRO Magazine: Apparatjik – We Are Here
• 07/16/2010 – BBC: The Mew/Coldplay/a-ha supergroup is certainly more than the sum of its parts.
• 06/15/2010 – Culture Deluxe: Apparatjik – We Are Here
• 06/24/1010 – musicOMH: Apparatjik – We Are Here
• 04/23/2010 – In Your Speakers: Apparatjik – We Are Here
• 04/01/2010 – The Line Of Best Fit: Apparatjik – We Are Here
• 03/24/2010 – There Goes The Fear: In the Post #55: Apparatjik
• 02/12/2010 – Redbrick Online: Spotlight On: Apparatjik
• 02/03/2010 – Zombette: Review: Apparatjik’s We Are Here

Quotes:

“If you were expecting Apparatjik to sound like ‘Viva La Vida’ meets ‘Take On Me’, then you are going to be sorely disappointed.” The Guardian

“Unlike most collaborations between artists from different positions in the music industry’s hierarchy, Apparatjik actually sound like a proper band – at no point does We Are Here seem to bow to one constituent’s personal demands [...] If you didn’t know who was involved, you’d assume Apparatjik was a brand-new band of previous unknowns. This: a compliment indeed.” BBC Music

“The experimentation aspect of the record is its most appealing element and you feel compelled to listen on, as you’re never entirely sure what tangent they’re going to veer off to next. Team this with the mysterious and captivating persona they present and what’s left is a valiant effort possessing some exciting ideas and galvanizing potential. Apparatjik are most definitely here and I cannot wait to see what they have planned next.” Culture Deluxe

“The album definitely had a looser, edgier feel than you would expect, more akin to electronic rock offerings from smaller, up-and-coming groups.” In Your Speakers

“Apparatjik is more than just a musical project, and as a whole, offers their fans plenty of brain activity. It is unfair to judge We Are Here as a single piece of work [...] As a component of the enterprise, their debut LP fits in nicely, but on its own, feels like an excerpt from a greater entity.” QRO Magazine

“As a project, this doesn’t seem for a heartbeat like a ‘supergroup’, whatever that means. It is more akin to a group of friends who got together to make ambitious, yet still commercial music.” The Line Of Best Fit

“The greater part of We Are Here has an instantly addic­tive qual­ity, most notably Snow Crys­tals and Arrow and Bow. An inter­est­ing array of darker and lighter tones are offered, often within one track itself due to con­stant chang­ing of direc­tion.” Redbrick Online

The album is called ‘Songs for Survival’ and it has been digitally released on iTunes and Play.com; on Monday October 13, 2008 the CD was released to stores in the UK, including HMV, Zawi and Fopp. You can also order it from Amazon.

‘Ferreting’ was released as a radio only promo CD single. Click the track name below to hear a short sample.

Tracklist:

CD1 – Amazon

01. Ferreting – Guy Berryman from Coldplay/Jonas from MEW/Magne from A-ha
02. Dawn Kinnard – Love is my new Drug
03. One People – Will I am from Black Eyed Peas feat. The Babongo Tribe
04. The Hidden Part – KT Tunstall
05. Long Road to Forgiveness – Jason Mraz and Brett Dennen
06. Grains of Sand – Mystery Jets and Jeremy Warmsley
07. Carrikfergus – Johnny Borrell feat. The Suri tribe
08. Tom Baxter – Make a Stand
09. Simmer Down – Skin and Adi tribe and Robot Club
10. Edge of Existence – Yusuf Islam

CD2 – Tribe

01. Babongo tribe remix – Hot Chip feat. The Babongo tribe
02. KIN – Adam Freeland feat the Suri tribe
03. Komuru – Hybrid feat. The Suri tribe
04. Trails and Tribulations – the egg feat the anuta and babongo tribes
05. Templates from home – The Go! Team feat. The Babongo tribe
06. Don’t touch the dusty fruit – The Ruby Suns feat. the Penan tribe
07. Hello Kombai – Blue States feat. Adi tribe
08. Evalina – Way Out West feat. The Suri tribe
09. Noneya – Roger Sanchez feat. The Adi tribe
10. Anuta song (name tbc) – Mike Oldfield

Related Links:

Survival International: Home Page | | Facebook | | YouTube | | Twitter | | Vimeo | | Flickr

‘Songs for Survival’: Official Page | | Wikipedia | | Facebook | | Kensaltown Records | | MySpace | | AllMusic

More info: Aspire Design Studios | | a-ha Official Site | | BBC Series Page | | Wikipedia | | a-ha Discography

Buy the album: Amazon.com | | Amazon.co.uk | | iTunes | | Play.com | | HMV.co.uk

Fan Forum Discussions/Info: West of the Moon | | Apparatchick | | Coldplaying

Media/Reviews:

• 11/02/2008 – Scotland on Sunday: ‘Bruce Parry – “I want to save the amazon”‘
• 10/28/2008 – Rock and Review: ‘Amazon Tribe – Songs for Survival’
• 10/04/2008 – The Sunday Times: ‘Bruce Parry swaps mud for music’
• 09/22/2008 – Telegraph: ‘Amazon with Bruce Parry: interview’
• 09/18/2008 – Yahoo: ‘Coldplay form A-Ha “supergroup”‘
• 09/18/2008 – Budstikka: ‘Coldplay, Mew og A-ha i ny supergruppe’
• 09/18/2008 – NME: ‘Coldplay team up with A-Ha and Mew’
• 09/18/2008 – VG: ‘Coldplay-bassist og a-ha-Magne med nytt band’
• 09/16/2008 – Pitchfork: ‘Hot Chip, Go! Team, Ruby Suns on Charity Compilation’
• 08/28/2008 – Seher: ‘Magne med i supergruppe’
• 08/26/2008 – Rakkestad Avis: ‘Furuholmen med i «supergruppe»’

Tracklist:

01. A dot of black in the blue of your bliss (3:54) | | lyrics | | sample
02. Come back (3:41) | | lyrics | | sample
03. The longest night (3:30) | | lyrics | | sample
04. Time and place (3:57) | | lyrics | | sample
05. Running out of reasons (3:26) | | lyrics | | sample
06. Forgotten not forgiven (3:28) | | lyrics | | sample
07. More than good enough (3:31) | | lyrics | | sample
08. Too far too fast (4:25) | | lyrics | | sample
09. Watch this space (4:25) | | lyrics | | sample | | discussion

This is the video that was included with the limited edition CD release:

Related Links:

Fan Discussions/Info: General discussion | | CD cover art | | Album reviews

“I [was] curious to see what it sounded like. The short answer is ‘pretty damn good’. I have had the six tracks on myspace on all day. Just looping round and round. It’s really surprising stuff…The standout track so far is the title track “A Dot Of Black In The Blue Of Your Bliss“, the gritty electronic bass complements the gritty lyrics. This song has been lovingly and carefully assembled. I really like the production.” posted by ‘thatch’ on duggup.com.