#41 New

A word is always also an image. Language connects to categories and clusters of information that projects an internal image when triggered. In thats sense they function no different than regular perception. What we see is images constructed inside the mind. We never perceive reality objectively or in itself. Perception is interpretation and thus consist of language, in the same manner as words.
But even more, as vision usually stems from a physical reality, so does also words, written or spoken. Nothing can ever be communicated without being inscribed into matter of some sort. Matter is what connects us, without it we would be completely sealed off. How, or in what way, words are inserted into reality affects how we perceive them. Thus reality itself seeps into language. There exists no clear or unmediated communication. Matter adds to the message. Because which matter we choose to communicate through reflects on who we are, it can also help to reveal unconscious or hidden meanings.

The first written words were inscribed in stone or clay. One of the purposes was to save them for the future. To protect them from the volatility of time. To speak, or to write, is always to some extent, an act of power. The receiver must always initially submit his or hers attention to the message. No matter how small, the message will always change the receiver forever. The reception can, and will, be processed by the receiver, but he or she, will never be same as before. It is no coincident that many of the first examples of texts are curses, prayers or laws. Different ways of trying to influence reality.

The western capitalistic society is obsessed with the present. Everything has to be new or connected to the now to have value, like a short-term sale or a sudden and temporary interest when something comes "in style" or goes viral. Youth is a fetish because it's fleeting. Profits have ever to increase. All that is stable and durable is suppressed. The industries of "mindfulness" and "creativity" can perhaps paradoxically be perceived as a part of this. We are supposed to stay in the moment and be ever-present. Self-awareness and reflection are exchanged with the quick fixes of self-help guidebooks, body exercise and meditation. The demand is to be present and enjoy. This is ideology. When we enjoy ourselves, we are unaware. It is pleasant but not a good foundation for change. It is one of the reasons why capitalism perseveres despite that it benefits only a tiny minority.

Word series is part of Template, an array of works made by using pieces of wooden plates as templates. They function a bit as a mould or matrix for the finished work. The plates are attached inside the frame and after the first layer of filler had dried they are removed. The remaining empty spaces are filled with filler of a different colour.

Reminiscent of Richard Serra's Verb List I try to use simple and clearly defined actions to shape the filler in my works. This way there is always non-cognitive aspects of the production process.