In Praise Of Corners by Trine Stephensen

Published in Unseen Magazine, 2017

After noticing a pattern of corners creeping into contemporary photography – both as subject matter within images, and as physical places in which pieces are exhibited – curator Trine Stephensen began to consider them as spaces of endless potential. Punctuated with images from artists for whom corners are a constant lure, she reflects on the act of curating and re-learns how to look at spaces with their corners in mind. 

Corners. It all began when searching for artists photographing corners for a journal I was publishing. I found seven artists and I selected three images per person. In total, I had a selection of 21 images that I printed in a self-published journal titled The Plantation Journal 5, Sculptural Corners. The search itself was like a journey. First I had the subject matter – a persistent return to the theme of corners in contemporary photography – and from there I picked up artists along the way. 

Since then, I’ve been searching for an exhibition space, and thinking about corners all over again. As I write this, I am in a white cube. A cube with equal square walls. Walls that are held together by corners. The artists and the artworks I’ve encountered of late have bought me here. Back to corners. What is it about them?

I’ve been thinking about the feeling of being stuck recently. As a curator, I’ve felt stuck. In the spaces I’ve found myself in until this point, I couldn’t find any movement. It just hasn’t felt right. I’ve continued my search for the right spaces, and in order to do so, I’ve had to re-learn how to look at space. 

A corner is a beginning and an end. It is the only place that has a complete overview of the whole room. Standing with your back to the corner, everything in the room can be seen. If you are facing the other way, the corner is the very end.  There is a comfort in having an overview of the whole room. This gives the corner a significant meaning. 

A corner connects an artwork and its place together. By placing a thing in the corner, the corner is then given a significant meaning of its own in relation to the thing placed there. Unlike a single wall, it envelops a piece of art. Frames it. Has a presence that’s wrapped up within the experience of the work. To have a newfound awareness of the occupied corner re-teaches us how to really look at space. To take notice of things. Maybe we have to begin to revisit gallery spaces in order to get an understanding of them, and an awareness. An awareness of their walls, ceilings, floor and corners. To become conscious of the surroundings. Conscious of each corner having a marked presence. To truly see the elements of a space. We can use each corner in a room as a point of reference to establish direction, which determines how we navigate the space, or how we see the things placed within it.

Within this white cube, I continue to trace the lines of the space with my eyes, and begin to notice how they always lead me back to the corners. The silence of the lines is resonant. There’s a rhythmic silence to the lines I follow in order to find the corner. Silence breeds space for reflection. Each corner in the cube is a focal point now. A focal point with which to see the space between points and things. We need these focal points in order to understand that there is a direction for us, as a visitor – that there is something to search for and seek out.

Within the space, I continue to follow the points of direction, and the lines as they guide me to the corners. The corners at the intersection of three lines. Suddenly, I’m aware of the space. I understand it. Now I see a white cube to frame the work I want to show, and bring it into existence.  A movement has been created within the space. A corner allows for that movement because it is both beginning and end. It allows for a process of renewal. The corner allows us to create something new. A new beginning for artworks, in the corner.