To Do Things
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- We are at the Ericsson Gallery, where my latest works are exhibited.00:00:11.883
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- The title of the exhibition is "To Do Things" because, as you will see, each work shows00:00:18.883
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- something being done. In effect, I have chosen this subject matter, because00:00:26.620
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- my work usually reflects back on my self, and in this case there is the question of00:00:33.690
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- artist's identity: what the artist does, and what makes that count as artwork.00:00:41.351
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- One of my works is entitled "Metaphor". It depicts a man reaching into his pants00:00:47.033
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- and scratching his "thing", which is usually a metaphor for not doing anything.00:00:54.585
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- And this is what is generally thought of visual artists00:01:03.095
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- that all they do is stand around scratching themselves.00:01:08.332
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- In connection to my previous exhibition, this series is composed of works00:01:14.815
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- with relative close-ups of hands.00:01:22.000
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- The largest painting featured at the exhibition is entitled "Straw-straw".00:01:24.971
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- I think there was a children's tale when I was little,00:01:30.071
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- in which dull-witted soldiers were trained to distinguish between the right and left side00:01:35.814
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- by tying hay on one leg and straw on the other.00:01:43.024
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- And there is, of course, a slight allusion here to political systems.00:01:50.610
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- In the tale, they called out "hay-straw, hay-straw!" and this enabled the soldiers to00:01:54.441
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- march in unison. My thought was that now we live in a situation where it doesn't matter00:02:01.400
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- what we tie to our left or right leg: what we have today is a "straw-straw" situation.00:02:07.641
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- Another painting entitled "Gauguin" depicts a globe and a hand pointing at an island00:02:16.567
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- in the Pacific Ocean, as I imagine Gauguin sitting in a cafe in Paris thinking to himself00:02:23.587
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- "this is where we should go". Although I am sure this is not how it happened, there is00:02:29.800
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- an underlying thought here indicated by the title, which engages the viewer and00:02:36.177
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- makes him wonder what is going on here. The painting behind me bears the title00:02:39.675
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- "Double Napoleon" Here I pose in my daughter's jacket and00:02:44.520
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- both my hands are stuck inside my shirt, referring to the Napoleonic hand position.00:02:51.000
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- Another painting is entitled "Instead of Thinking, Pinch Yourself!"00:02:58.018
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- It is a reference to a Pelevin novel whose protagonist always has his mind racing00:03:01.576
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- and realizes that he is going to have to face problems that may be impossible for him00:03:07.800
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- to understand, or may not be his concern, or might even drive him insane. He then comes00:03:14.300
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- to the conclusion that when you want to find out the truth about something,00:03:20.300
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- it is better to cause yourself pain. In this painting I pinch my nipple,00:03:24.700
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- which could also be seen to allude to sexuality.00:03:29.800
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- But the basic message is that if people do less thinking, they will be happier.00:03:32.000