Maren Dagny Juell: You’re Doing Great

At first, you're simply given advice, then they explain how to do things better, then instructions appear. And then, suddenly, it turns out that someone already knows quite precisely how you should work, study, train, cope with stress, and generally exist... It's this transition from assistance to control that interests Norwegian artist Maren Dagny Juell. Maren Dagny Juell works with what surrounds us every day: corporate training, self-help, fitness programs, educational videos, computer games, interfaces. It all seems quite harmless until you begin to notice that behind each of these formats lies a certain model of a person – incredibly productive and flexible to any changes, constantly ready to become even better. With Maren Dagny Juell, instructions begin to sound too confident, and the tasks become so strange that the character begins to behave in a way that's not quite what you expect. And from this rather humorous situation, something far less humorous gradually emerges: who decided this was the right way to do it? This theme has been woven throughout Maren Dagny Juell's practice for many years. In her VR projects, she has explored spaces – the gym, the office, the classroom – where we're accustomed to obeying rules. In her more recent works, she increasingly focuses on AI, algorithms, and content moderation – that is, not just how our behavior is controlled, but also how the very image of the world around us is formed. At the same time, Maren Dagny Juell's work always leaves room for failure. For someone who hasn't mastered it, hasn't understood it, hasn't fully optimized it – this isn't a weakness, but an almost essential zone of freedom. Maren Dagny Juell was born in Oslo, studied at the University of Hertfordshire, and received an MA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art and Design in London. Maren Dagny Juell worked in television production in the UK for several years before returning to Norway. Today, she lives and works in Oslo. Her projects have been shown at the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, the Stavanger Kunstmuseum, and the Bergen Center for Electronic Arts. She has participated in the Riga Photography Biennial, Meta.Morf, and Art Encounters Biennial, and her films have been included in the Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin programs. Currently, "Community Guidelines," winner of the 2026 CIFRA Award, holds a special place in Maren Dagny Juell's practice. Here, the question of control becomes even more pressing: who decides what we can see, what should disappear from view, and how much we can trust an image at all? We will soon return to "Community Guidelines" separately in the CIFRA Art Box.