#527 Leaflets

Installation with 99 leaflets scattered on the floor. Each leaflet has an image of a different stone. Stones and leaflets are the most essential tools of the powerless for protest, resistance and struggle. Every stone is a message. Every message is a stone.

There is no language as such. Words must be embodied in material, and all statements have physical consequences. Material circumstances have meaning and significance, they can be interpreted and understood. Language and materiality are interrelated and influence each other. Change is possible. A small word can topple a palace. A single stone can change the minds of a people.

I frequently use the number 99 when producing my works. 99 is referencing the famous slogan of the Occupy movement - "We are the 99%". I interpret it as a unity of interest more than wealth. The large majority are united through their relation to labour, or employment, as opposed to the minority owners of capital - the employers. We should use this common ground instead of being divided by our different occupations and tasks within the capitalist system.
It is vital to notice that 99% means most, but not all. We are united not by universality but through the struggle for a common goal or against a common opponent.
99% can also represent the fact that universality is an abstract concept. There is never a complete answer; there is always a rest that will remain unknown. In real life, any happiness always contains a stain of sorrow, any victory a shadow of defeat.