The title of the exhibition, Flare-Up, is based on the artists’ experience of living with multiple sclerosis (MS). When Jakob Senneby had his first flare-ups, doctors told him he had an ‘overactive immune system’ and a ‘body at war with itself’. While he could never quite identify with such metaphors, they fit all the better with the immunosuppressive drugs offered by the pharmaceutical industry. These lucrative treatments can reduce the dramatic flare-ups but do little to slow the gradual deterioration over time. Flare-Up also alludes to the volatile and flammable nature of pine resin. Induced by injuries and infestations, resin acts as the tree’s immune system. It recurs as material in several works at Accelerator.
The bark beetle plays a central role in this exhibition. The processes that bark beetles trigger in trees, ecosystems and the forest industry have informed several works, especially the two new installations, Pheromone Traps (2025) and Blue-Stain Ramp (2025). Goldin+Senneby has built a ramp out of wood from spruces felled by bark beetles. The ramp leads visitors across a pond of resin and creates a new passageway between the rooms at Accelerator, making its different levels accessible. On the landing at the top of the ramp lies an excerpt from a forth-coming novel by fiction writer Katie Kitamura, which revolves around experiences of autoimmunity. The artists have collaborated with Kitamura since 2018.
