THE LINE(S)

A basic start. A physical entrance to the field of drawing. Or to the field of being, the being of a sensitive and alert mind and body, in close relation to the world around. A way of relating in which language, architecture, sculpture and gesture all become relevant. All from the interest in poetic presence and possibility of discovering what is already there. Maybe best described as an interest in creation out of nothingness. The power of inventing a kind of attendance which serves complexity while being visually simple.

To work with lines is a direct start. Lines can be found everywhere. Small ones. Cracks. Shadows. Marks. Painted ones. Dirty ones. Reflections, scraps. Chances to direct your focus. The viewing of them as a way of entering and relating to the world. From the tiniest dimensions of a pencil tip, to the larger scales and meanings of physical rooms and spaces: a never-ending search for playful precise connotation.

Drawings, intuitive gestures, micro-performances and fragments of text that sometimes lead into exhibitions. Sometimes compositions, lasting for just a short time in the studio. Sometimes text-pieces connected to a very specific circumstance and place. Sometimes short micro-performances where the recorded interaction with all kinds of lines, in all kinds of places, turns into a seemingly flat video, filled with bodily awareness. Or, in contrast to the drawings, paper presented as form, sculptures.

AS THE CROWS FLY THE STRAIGHT LINE 

I like words to instigate a way of thinking, seeing and relating. I made a piece for the exhibition series “FoteXolutions” by artist couple Hösl & Mihaljevic. Along two free-standing walls, the work showcased an instruction/text based on the idea of the two walls as a wing-addition to human body. And how you, by following the instruction, could finally reach the meeting point of these walls. A corner, a line and a turning point from where you were given the formulated way of relating. Like a bird. Arms held out as extensions of the walls, which like wings, you are empowered by as you turn: a flying resource. In other words, a basic text piece, acted out by the audience, in hope for a freer way of navigating space. All from the expression of the bird’s line, with the help of this linguistical play. The willingness to see more than what was there before.

Another example is “L_I_N_J_E_N”. A performance where I, in a black suit with a white line from top to toe, was text-performing in the empty spaces of Bildmuseet/Umeå. In the staircases, the entrance, the elevator and all in between; everywhere lines could be found, I highlighted them with language. The crack in the floor was presented as a tension line. The window reflections of the ventilation lines as air lines. The gap between the elevator’s doors was where the line open | s. And the small distance between the wall and the floor was where floor to wall and wall to floor are____line enough. By letting these titles highlight the lines, they transformed the experience of the architecture into a subtle line-universe, adding an alert and playful way of seeing. Lines in connection to language.

YES DRAWING!

All my work can be seen as drawing, in a wide sense of the word. The lines in my graphite drawings are hidden in the mass of lines, in the landscape of flat papers. They serve the function of detailed focal points or still standing pauses for eyes and body within exhibitions. Often in relation to a sculptural presentation or a title, presented physically in the room. A concrete line can here work as a minimalistic bridge, linking pieces together. A crack in the wall could line up with a folded part of a drawing, just like a line fracture in the floor can lead up to a sound piece about the (never really) straight line.

And because of the (small) size of the drawings the observer needs to move into the room to take them in, which leads us back to where we started, with this concentrated way of relating to the world, through lines. The never-ending invitation to see and engage with the world around us. Open, aware and alert. Sensing more than the obvious. Just how the poetic gaze meets the world!