s12 Galleri og verksted

October 25, 2025- December 21, 2025

Installation view of Ved Bordet at S12 Galleri og Verksted in Bergen, Norway. photo credit: the artist

Ved Bordet (At the Table) is a nationwide collaborative project generated by Beth Lipman and S12 Galleri og Verksted. It centers on the concept of collecting, and culminated in an installation of two table sculptures at S12 in Bergen, Norway, on October 25, 2025.

Rooted in the idea of conveyance, the act of transferring something from one person to another, Ved Bordet invited artists, makers, and community members of all backgrounds to contribute. The final installation reflects a wide spectrum of perspectives through open participation. The project questions traditional hierarchies of authorship and curatorial authority, creating an archive of shared making.

One of the two sculptures, Møte, is a clear glass composition that evolved through interpretations of three symbolic objects: a Loving Cup, a Sendingskorg (sending basket), and a carved wooden bit once used by pack animals during the last Ice Age. Through a “mirroring” process, each participant responded to an image of the previous object without context, emphasizing the layered, subjective nature of collective interpretation. Artists throughout Norway were invited to participate. Digital tools were used to track the sequence of responses and virtually “join the table” by submitting their own interpretation, thereby decentralizing authorship and exploring themes of eusocial behavior, communication, and labor.

The second sculpture, Bergen Table, is constructed from community-wide donated domestic glass and ceramic objects. These discarded items are cut and reconfigured into a table form. Juxtaposed with Møte, Bergen Table subverts conventional notions of collecting by reclaiming unwanted objects and transforming them into a communal structure. The work invites reflection on care, exchange, consumption, material histories, and global cycles of production and disposal.