Esben Weile Kjær's 'Hardcore Freedom' Performance Kicks Off Toaster Performance Biennale in Copenhagen

Multimedia artist Esben Weile Kjær launched the Toaster Performance Biennale at Den Frie Udstilling in Copenhagen with a new iteration of his performance piece 'Hardcore Freedom,' transforming the museum into a rave. The event drew 1,600 attendees over four hours, featuring freeform dance by a cast of young Copenhagen nightlife figures, followed by DJ sets from Courtesy and Europa. Kjær, now an art world darling six years after the piece's 2020 debut at Copenhagen Contemporary, chose not to perform himself, aiming to pass the torch to the next generation. The performance unfolded on a lit-up 1980s chessboard floor, funded by a collector and transported from Sweden, evoking memories of Gavin Brown's Passerby bar in New York. Photographer The Cobrasnake (Mark Hunter) documented the event, fulfilling Kjær's teenage admiration for Hunter's indie sleaze aesthetics from Los Angeles and New York nightlife scenes. Kjær reflected that the piece explores the emptiness of the word 'freedom,' questioning its meaning as a fantasy through the accumulated debris of social interactions. Growing up in Aarhus, he was inspired by Hunter's work, and the new photos suggest the mid-2000s aesthetic remains timeless. The performance's detritus—empty bottles, cigarette butts, lost clothing, and confetti—echoes its earlier three-month run, emphasizing material traces of revelry.