Author: Sam Derounian

The Machine that Grew too Big and the Singing Gardener at Norske Hus, Sophienholm, Denmark

SixtyEight is pleased to present the exhibition The Machine that Grew Too Big and the Singing Gardener by artist Sam Derounian in the Norske Hus at Sophienholm Kunsthal.

Opening: Saturday 22 August, 14:00-17:00

On show until: 26 September 2026

Venue: Norske Hus, in the park at Sophienholm

Opening hours: 11:00-16:00 Thursdays to Sundays. Check www.sixtyeight.dk for updates before you travel.

The exhibition comprises two installations, one indoor space in Norske Hus in the park surrounding Sophienholm, and one outdoor installation nearby, and expresses Sam Derounian’s political and social critique of communication technologies through visual symbolism and poetic allegory, particularly by employing the motif of the ‘piping system’ as a metaphor for the exploitation of human ‘resources’, for example through data collection.

Image: Installation view, Sam Derounian, The Machine that Grew too Big and the Singing Gardener at Norske Hus, Sophienholm, 2026.

The Machine that Grew too Big and the Singing Gardener Publication with RSS Press

Alongside my exhibition at @sophienholm (Norske Hus and Park), my friends @really_simple_syndication will be releasing a publication. The publication be released as a limited edition this autumn, and will contain riso-printed reproductions of a number of artworks from the exhibition, as well as two essayistic responses to the exhibition by Lars Bang Larsen and @carolauehlken: two curators and writers who I’m really excited to hear from.

Image: RSS press logo

New free publication about my educational work with collaborators Christopher Sand-Iversen and Signe S. Simonsen available via RSS Press

Free copy of new publication “Sagsmappen, Munkecellen, og Signaturen” available through RSS Press.

@really_simple_syndication recently published the booklet The Case File, the Monk Cell and the Signature – An “object-oriented theater” course, about the project of the same name that I carried out together @68artinstitute and social worker Signe S. Simonsen last winter. The project was a creative learning course with young people in vulnerable positions, which was held at @fishtankkbh .

The publication contains some pictures from the course, and a text that puts into words our reasons for doing the project, the various challenges we have encountered along the way, and not least what we believe such projects can achieve in the form of positive experiences, learning and competence strengthening for young people in vulnerable positions.

The publication is in Danish and printed in a limited edition, which is distributed and can be requested free of charge by contacting Christopher Sand-Iversen director of RSS Press by email – csi@rssprss.net . Read more about the project here .

Solo exhibition at Sophienholm (Norske Hus)

Next year I’ll be having a solo exhibition at @sophienholm (Norske Hus) and possibly in the grounds. I am currently in talks about the exhibition also being accompanied by a publication of some of my work from the exhibition as well as some essays by selected contributors. More details on that to follow next year.

Chart Book and Print Fair

I have a number of limited edition prints available through @really_simple_syndication Press at @chart_artfair Book and Print Fair.

Alongside RSS Press there are some other fantastic exhibitors with tons of art books and original artworks for sale that showcase a range of publishers, artists, and writers who are working in Scandinavia and internationally today.

The fair is being held this Saturday November 29th at 12-6pm and Sunday 30th November at 12-5pm at @kunsthalcharlottenborg , Copenhagen DK.

Working Grant from the Danish Arts Council

I’m grateful to have recieved a working grant (arbejdslegat) for 2025 from the Danish Arts Council (Statens Kunstfond).

The grant is made in recognition of certain artists working in Denmark and to support them over the coming year.

The Case file, the Monk’s Cell, and the Signature: Object Theatre Workshops for Young People (exhibition opening).

On Tuesday, January 21st, we are pleased to welcome you to an exhibition opening that rounds off a ten-week course with young people from the Municipality of Copenhagen. The Object Theatre course – created and led by artist Sam Derounian, in collaboration with Christopher Sand-Iversen from SixtyEight Art Institute and Fishtank – aims to give young people an opportunity to express themselves and the social or psychological challenges they have experienced. By using selecting objects to ‘speak through’, the three young artists invite you to step into their universe.

Come and have a look for yourselves at the results of the course and learn more about the project.

When: Tuesday, January 21st, 5-7 p.m.
Where: FishTank/Social Hub, Ingerslevsgade 44, Copenhagen, Denmark. (entrance on Staldgade).

The project was realised with generous support from The Danish Arts Council, Københavns Kommune, and Amager Øst Lokaludvalg

Danish Arts Council Grant for Artist in Residence Project

I have received a substantial grant from the Danish Arts Council to fund my artist in residence (Huskunstnerordning) project ‘Art around the Clock’. I will be working in collaboration with public institutions in Copenhagen dealing with vulnerable young people and with Sixty Eight Art Institute and Fishtank/Social hub as consultants.

I will work with participants from the public institutions to create sculptures incorporating objects and the human figure that will function as avatars for the participants, which will be animated by scripted audio and lighting and will together form an immersive audio-visual installation exploring participants’ relationships with their environment. The exhibition will be open to the public – watch this space!

Solo exhibition at Danske Grafikeres Hus Copenhagen

For my solo exhibition at Danske Grafikeres Hus I will show screen-prints combining natural and industrial imagery entangled with the human figure and set within hand-painted environments.

The exhibition deals with themes of humans’ relationship with technology and its effects on wellbeing and self-perception, taking its name from a lecture by the British educational philosopher Ken Robinson. Robinson compared educational models of the contemporary west to those of industry, opining that they should more ideally resemble those of horticulture, if students were to thrive and develop.

Applying Robinson’s ideas about development and wellbeing in the context of this new body of work, my allegorical images will explore the atomizing and isolating effects of the ubiquity of technology and the negation of nature on the individual – psychologically, socially, politically, and philosophically – in the series, shown in its complete form for the first time.

The exhibition is generously supported by: Københavns Kommune Rådet for Visuel Kunst. Statens Værksteder for Kunst.

Residency at the Danish National Workshops for Art

I’m pleased to be undertaking a production residency at the Danish National Workshops for Art. I will be using the residency to produce new work for a solo exhibition at Danske Grafikere’s Hus in Copenhagen next spring.

Audacious Landscapes at Sixty Eight Art Institute

I’m participating in this week-long program of talks and workshops on the subject of art and ecology. I’m looking forward to and sharing and developing my concept of ‘O-O T’: object-oriented theatre and learning about other participants practices and perspectives.

Full program here: https://madmimi.com/p/7b97a41

#Repost@68artinstitute:

SixtyEight Art Institute is pleased to announce the 5th Edition of its intensive curatorial programme, The Curatorial Thing, “Audacious Landscapes”.

We will offer open lectures by artists, curators, researchers, and art historians who will explore climate art histories, leading critical discussions on future imaginaries in a warming world through art, design and architecture.