#437 We Are ManyBy Johan Söderström
Overview
2022
Construction Filler, Filler on board
Unique Work
Dimensions: 84cm (H) x 64cm (W) x 5cm (D) / 33.1" (H) x 25.2" (W) x 2" (D)
Note: Actual colours may vary due to photography & computer settings.
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This item ships from Norway
Please note that this item is framed and requires crating for shipment
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Artist Statement
Filler on board, oak panel
These works were produced through 9 participatory art projects in collaboration with Aurskog-Høland Kunstforening and Den Kulturelle Skolesekken. The participants were pupils from Bjørkelangen, Aursmoen and Bråte junior high schools. The young people were asked to place 99 stones in the wet filler in oak panels placed on the floor. They put down the small rocks individually, one by one. I exhibited some of the works as a work-in-progress installation during my exhibition at the art association's gallery.
The project explores collective aesthetic expressions where the participants act individually while simultaneously responding to each other.
The title refers to the Occupy movement's slogan, "We are the 99%", but also to the passage in the Bible, Mark 5:9, where Jesus performs an exorcism and asks the demon - "What is your name?" "My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many."
In the almost coincidental patterns, different clusters and shapes can be discerned. The ability to see images where none exist is called pareidolia. It is used, i.a., in various techniques for predicting the future and interpreting portents. Acts that can be perceived as both disturbing and reassuring. It is no coincidence that young people carried out these works. The youth can represent the future. It is in the active space between people that reality is created.
Artist Profile
Born: 1969
Hometown: Stockholm
Based in: Oslo
I am interested in process-based painting and the profound human solitude. While exploring one thing, I sometimes try to formulate something about the other.
My work is made from construction filler in oak frames. I have developed a unique technique, where I insert 6 mm thick layers of grey and white …
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