By Tobias Lauritzen
I meet the artist duo J&K at the Danish Art Workshops, where they are finishing the works for the exhibition Parterapi at SMK. They welcome you with high spirits, and it quickly becomes clear that Janne Schäfer and Kristine Agergaard have been working as a duo for more than two decades: They finish and begin each other's sentences, and the language switches effortlessly between Danish, English and German.
J&K met at Chelsea College of Art and Design in the late 90s, at a time when several artists were beginning to challenge the notion of the individual artistic genius through relational practices. For J&K, collaboration became a new way of living and thinking.
“After our education, we said: Let's just collaborate for five years. No matter what happens. We had both done independent projects, but we believed that only by focusing 100% on our shared practice could we test whether our collaboration could be the basis for our artistic work.”
Today, more than 25 years later, they describe their practice as a kind of shared consciousness.
“When you work together for so long, the result becomes something third. It's not just 1+1. What we do becomes much more than the sum of two individuals,” they say.
In the high-ceilinged workshop, we have sat down at a workbench. In front of us is a model that resembles a kind of raft: Small pieces of driftwood, fabric, rope and metal are assembled into something that resembles both a shipwreck and a futuristic creature. The model, which is still in progress, shows Unshore, a new work for the exhibition Parterapi.
“As you can see, we are maximalists,” they say almost in unison, pointing around the workshop, where an almost archaeological work process emerges: Large pieces of driftwood, tools, plastic, fabric scraps, rope and garbage are arranged in systems. Things that you would normally pass by without giving it a second thought. But in the installations they become traces of something that was once in use, relics that point towards the sea and towards what drifts ashore.
Duo portrait of J&K. Photo: Natascha Thiara Rydvald ©SMK
A living archive
At SMK, Parterapi brings together both older works and new works created for the exhibition. One of the central works is, as mentioned, Unshore.
“The title comes from “on shore”, meaning the coastline between sea and land, but shifted to “unshore”, which phonetically sounds like “uncertain” in English. It is a place where boundaries become fluid and unstable. Water interests us because it does not respect fixed categories, but connects everything and moves between states.”
"We have collected things that are normally perceived as worthless or overlooked. Here they receive a new kind of attention and value. For the exhibition, we also wanted to look at what the museum contains in terms of leftovers. That's why we also went hunting in SMK's basement and found stranded marble pieces, plinths and display cases, which will also be part of the installation. This emphasizes the shift in value when we put a piece of corroded plastic from the sea in a museum display case. It is always important for us to relate specifically to the place we are exhibiting and challenge it."
Is it also about spotting what society rejects?
"To the very highest degree. In that way, it is political for us to see what can no longer be used and discarded as 'dead things'. We are interested in challenging the way we relate to and value materials, resources and objects, both in art and in society in general," says J&K.
Creating a common language
They describe their works as a kind of J&K-world: A universe where people, materials and objects exist side by side as life forms in their own right and without fixed hierarchies.
“Everything comes into being through collage. When we create a work, it feels like building a world with its own connections, logics and beings. Our idea development is very associative. We work with mind maps, conversations, images, materials and connections, which slowly emerge as its own cosmos in a rather dynamic way.”
It often takes months to figure out the rules of the game for a work. With Unshore, the duo spent a long time even understanding what the work wanted to be and what principles it should be built around.
“Sometimes we work very rigorously with fixed frameworks. In some works, for example, we use meditations as a method to encounter a material or a place. Afterwards, we are only allowed to work further with the material that arose in the meditation itself. Other times, the process is more open and intuitive.”
Who makes the decisions when there are two of you?
When there are two people involved in a work, an obvious question arises: Who really decides?
"We are both involved in all decisions, and work side by side to a large extent in developing concepts and the production itself, but there are also some areas where we work differently. Kristine quickly gets ideas, while I am good at thinking through all the details in the production. Once the concept is in place, we create a more concrete system for the division of labor. You could say that the works always arise in conversation," says Janne.
Since the duo does not live in the same place, but has over the years resided in Copenhagen and Berlin, and now in Copenhagen and on Møn, the collaboration alternates between intensive periods of work together and longer periods where they work separately. Something that also provides air and space for reflection, and not least excitement when they meet.
Fuzzy Logos (from the installation Soul Retrieval) (2017) Sculpture. Mixed media: wool, wood, glazed ceramic, magnetic clock, fabric, metal, 180 x 100 x 80 cm Photo: MK Jakobsen
The indispensable nature of collaboration
"I wouldn't be able to create such complex works alone. We give each other courage and dare to take more chances because we constantly support each other," says Kristine.
Janne points out that the collaboration is also about creating a less hierarchical practice.
“We work a lot as a team, and we have often included friends in our performances. For us, it's about creating communities and letting them become part of the work. It all becomes less centered around one person and with a more open structure.”
Work and private life flow together for the duo to a degree that makes it possible to cover for each other when life demands it.
“We are both mothers. The children become part of the work, and that also applies if one is sick, has a crisis or is on maternity leave. Then the other can take over. It's pretty crazy that one can be on maternity leave while the other continues the joint practice. That way, there have never been any real breaks in our careers.”
“And if we have a teaching job like J&K, one can take it while the other continues working on an exhibition or something else.”
But there are also economic disadvantages to the collaboration.
“We often have to share the fee. The system doesn't always take into account whether you are a duo. That's a disadvantage.”
They also point out that their different backgrounds provide opportunities. With bases in Berlin, Copenhagen and now on Møn, they have access to multiple stages, networks and partners.
The friction in the joint
Working together isn't just a bed of roses. It can almost be like a relationship.
“Friction sometimes arises because our collaboration is so close. We talk to each other all the time, both about art and about life, and of course it requires clarification along the way. We are not just colleagues, we are also close friends and have shared large parts of our adult lives. Therefore, work and private life are completely intertwined. If one of us is going through a difficult period, it automatically affects the other. We lift each other up, but we are also emotionally affected by each other's ups and downs. It is both beautiful and quite intense,” they say.
For the duo, disagreements are not necessarily a problem, quite the opposite.
“The best disagreements happen when we really have to argue and at the same time let go of our own ego. It's about stepping into something common. The result is always something third. Something that is bigger than each of us.”
It is therefore a practice that challenges the notion of the artist as an individual.
"There is still a strong idea in the art world about the individual signature. But we are working to dissolve that notion. To find out what happens if you let go of the idea of the autonomous individual," says J&K.
The good advice
What is your advice to other artists who want to work together in duos or groups?
“Try not to think that your own opinion is always the most important. You need to be able to step back from your ego and think about the common work rather than your own need for control,” says Janne.
"And then you have to remember to have fun together. Friendship is absolutely crucial. You must not forget the relationship in the midst of ambitions and production, because it is often what keeps the collaboration alive through the difficult periods," concludes Kristine.
Bank & Rau, Hesselholdt & Mejlvang, J&K / Janne Schäfer and Kristine Agergaard and Randi & Katrine. Photo: Natascha Thiara Rydvald ©SMK
About the exhibition Couples Therapy
- Pairerapi is a group exhibition about creating together, about how thoughts and expressions come into being together. The exhibition brings together four Danish artist duos: Bank & Rau, Hesselholdt & Mejlvang, J&K / Janne Schäfer and Kristine Agergaard, and Randi & Katrine.
- Through sculpture, installation and performance, the artists explore the possibilities, dynamics and challenges of community.
- The exhibition will take the form of a scenic total installation and will feature works from the four artist duos' early years to the present day, as well as new works produced specifically for the exhibition.
The exhibition opens at the National Gallery of Denmark on August 29, 2026 and can be experienced until January 24, 2027.
Cover image: Mammal Matrix (2017); high-resolution HD video. Photo: Solberg.