The artist duo 'Samvær Under Tilsün' transforms the exhibition space into a user-controlled leisure club for all ages. The main activity is Pling Pong, a form of table tennis where participants get to play with specially made rackets that generate vibrant sounds and images. The room is a mixture of a social meeting place and a multimedia installation.

The club offers elements known from leisure pursuits such as opportunities for casual gaming, socializing and snacks. Wall and ceiling hung banners help evoke a sporty atmosphere with clear logos and strong colours, while the artist duo's own handmade solutions, whimsical shapes, peculiar figures and surprising sounds and movements oppose a generic sports aesthetic, and cheerfully break the standardized rules .

'Samvær Under Tilsün' describes the main activity 'Leisure Club' as follows:

'Pling Pong is a form of augmented table tennis, where sensors in the table tennis rackets are connected to a sound and video system that is activated when the participants hit the ball or touch the table. The net on the table tennis table has been replaced with custom-made double-sided LED matrix screens in 12:1 format, which visualize the game with strobe lights, animation and information on score status. The table tennis rackets are homemade with unexpected and non-traditional shapes. Points are awarded or deducted and the course of the game is modulated with a hyper-modern referee keyboard at each of the Pling Pong tables. The system evokes a rich and varied selection of sounds and images, taken from Samvær Under Tilsün's own bank; here there are, among other things, collected mood carpets, self-composed techno and a gong function. Loudspeakers made of Turkish warning women located at head height behind the players give additional life to the sound effects that will follow the direction of the strokes. By reinforcing the participants' actions, an environment is created that is reminiscent of that found in animation and hyperkinetic computer games. In this way, Pling Pong borrows from the cartoon's excessive use of effects, and uses the technology to transform the participants into god-like athletes with unimaginable powers.'

The exhibition is based on experiences that Samvær Under Tilsün has gained with audiovisual interactive projects, as well as touring activities with Den Kulturelle Skolesekken. Pling Pong has previously been an event-based installation for public spaces − such as with the remote-controlled table Pling Pong Ekspress (2019) − and in various space-built configurations, such as at Winter Solstice 2022. This is the first time the system is presented in an exhibition context, and it in a spectacular further developed version, which has been made in collaboration with Notam (Norwegian center for technology in music and art).

Samvær Under Tilsün describes itself as "a conglomerate of improvised hardware freeform techno, augmented table tennis with life™ as effort, Det Elektriske Korps, machine embroidery, lefs, tea, spinning sound system in undulating combination and other low-threshold offerings." Their projects consist of sound, video, games, electronics, food, textiles and other interactive social sculptures and events. The duo consists of Øyvind Mellbye and Einar Goksøyr Åsen. Øyvind Mellbye (b. 1985, Oslo) has a background from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bergen and works with sculptures, machines and sound, and with materials such as wood, metal, concrete and electronics. Einar Goksøyr Åsen (b. 1985, Kristiansand) is a preschool teacher and works at Deichman Biblo Tøyen. He makes music under the alias Stiv Heks and runs the cassette label Hulesystem. Samvær Under Tilsün has, among other things, participated in Hvitsten Salon (2022); The Munch Museum, Oslo (2022); The Sculpture Triennale in Oslo (2021), Borealis, Bergen (2021); CODA, Oslo (2020); Ding Dong, Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo (2020); Mushroom Day, Nature Museum and Botanical Garden, Kristiansand (2020) and Autumn Exhibition, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo (2019).

The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Council and KiN's Regional project funds.

Curator Torill Østby Haaland