S12 Galleri og Verksted: Ved Bordet Project
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 will culminate in an installation of two table sculptures at S12 in Bergen, Norway, in the fall of 2025.
Rooted in the idea of conveyance, the act of transferring something from one person to another, Ved Bordet invites artists, makers, and community members of all backgrounds to contribute. The final installation will reflect 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 will evolve 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 responds to an image of the previous object without context, emphasizing the layered, subjective nature of collective interpretation. Artists throughout Norway—ranging from beginners to experienced practitioners—are invited to participate. Digital tools allow contributors 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 will be cut and reconfigured by Lipman and the S12 team 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.
Opening October 25, 2025.