Along a long, narrow hallway, photographs fill densely packed shelves. Framed in white, they depict everyday scenes: party snapshots, family vacation photos, and children’s portraits. On closer inspection, some faces – especially those of Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset – appear repeatedly, while others are seen only occasionally.
Whether The Incidental Self, Fig. 2 should be read as a biographical documentation of a partnership or as an intimate yet comprehensive portrait of queer life in the early 2000s remains open.
A central theme in the duo’s work is navigating experiences of otherness in a society shaped by traditional notions of gender and heteronormative relationships. They combine an apparently unadorned visual style with complex thematic content. The Incidental Self, Fig. 2 is an unusually illustrative, image-rich work within their practice.
The monumental, exuberant presentation creates a striking tension with the often intimate photographs. Its scale prevents viewers from taking in the entire installation at once, producing a paradoxical sense of both proximity and distance.
The interplay between public and private realms exemplifies the duo’s approach, which merges poignant critique with empathy.