EN NORDMALINGSBO 48H I GISLAVED

(Translate: A person from Nordmaling 48h in Gislaved)

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As a person as me, coming from a small town in North of Sweden called Nordmaling (2 546 people) I have always wanted to fight for these small towns to be kept alive. Small towns in Sweden often got a bad reputation in the big cities - the big city folks think that it's places where nothing happens and exist of only boredom. Who wants to live there?

 

In my first year at Academy of Valand in Gothenburg we got to have an exhibition  in Gislaved. A small town a couple of miles from Gothenburg. I wanted to take my own experience of living in a small town and show that these places do have value.

 

With my earlier studies in social anthropology I wanted to do a field studie in Gislaved. I spent 48 hours in Gislaved and walked around and ate on the popular restaurant/bar, talked to people to know what to visit and hear their story. During these 48 hours I collected materials with my analog camera, my video camera and saved all things that landed in front of my feet. 

My finished artwork became an collage about Gislaved through my eyes. Based on the talks and meetings with the people living there and the different places I visited. Every object in my installation is from Gislaved.

I wanted to show that the small cities in Sweden do got wonderful people and stuff to do. And that it got a lot of value and how important these small places really is and to not forget them. In a way maybe break down the stereotypes of what a small towns is.

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This is a work that I want to continue with in different places in Sweden. 

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Material:
- Ready mades from a secondhand shop in Gislaved

- Black and white analog photographs from my field study

- Journal with thoughts and drawings during my time in Gislaved

- Monitor with my movie from Gislaved in a loop

- Zipbags with different objects I got from different places and people I met during my time in Gislaved