Guldgubbe

In 2005, Kim Buck had a joint exhibition on the island of Bornholm. The location made it natural for him to base his pieces on little plaques of gold foil embossed with figures - 2000 of which have been discovered since they were first found there in the Middle Ages. Many of the plaques have a male figure as the motif, giving them their name 'Guldgubbe' (gold geezer). Experts are not certain of their function but they probably served as sacrificial offerings. Kim Buck's Guldgubbe consists of pendants in the shape of plaques embossed with various symbols. Some have different signs of the heart, from the classical shape to the outline of the physical organ. As a gift, a 'sacrificial offering', this jewellery invites us to reflect on the symbolic language we use. What it is we give and what do we say with what we give?

---Jorunn Veiteberg