Category: Sweden 2023

Our last week in Gothenburg overflowed with creative capers and heart to heart happenings.

End of the year art school shows… our fave: the fresh, sassy work at Dômen Konstskola

Scanning the analog horizon

Twilight Filmcycle screenings every night from one side of town to the other featuring films and photographs made in community during the past 3 months in Sweden

Studio visits with artists whose life and work represent the soul of Konstepidemin: Berit Jonsvik, Bibbi Forsman, Carina Fihn, Johanna St Michaels, Maria Magnusson, Nils Ramhøj, Pecka Söderberg and Pia König

The sweet springtime delight of homemade lilac syrup

Midnight blue cyanotypes thrown out to the night sky

A mad dash through all the galleries and museums left on our list

One last peruse and fika at our beloved treasure trove Saron Secondhand…

A fabulously cacophonous cultural celebration: Hooray for Hammarkullekarnevalen!

Majornas Megaloppis, the giant neighborhood flea market, where we shouted out “Send us a Bolex!” and one instantly appeared!

A friend-filled Make It + Take It that ran all day and into the evening, ending with a humble offering to the twilight forest

A farewell Swedish studio supper with Maria and Linus

And the last stitch of the lollipop rag rug, begun in Week 1.

Full circle.

Lucky 13!

Thirteen weeks of art, adventure, exploration and camaraderie.

Thirteen weeks of moving through new landscapes, activating new rooms, dancing to new tunes, sparking bright collaborations, and dipping into new blue oceans of possibility.

To simply be. And be with others, kindred spirits all.

Tusen tack to IASPIS, to Konstepidemin, to Gothenburg, to everyone who welcomed us and created with us, and most especially to Maria. We love you dearly.

In the short time we’ve been away, Gothenburg has transformed into a lush, green oasis… every leaf unfurled, every blossom bloomed, the sun smiling down on everyone. “Swedish Summer” is right around the corner; it’s time to play and explore!

On Monday, we stroll the Botanical Garden and inhaled the scent of the season.

On Tuesday, we play with light and shadow. The simplest things are still the most magical.

On Wednesday, we work with students from Dômen Konstkola, Konstepidemin’s robust patch of stinging nettles, and a bit of purple cabbage leftover from Awakenings to create a collaborative Super 8 film bursting with alchemical energy.

On Thursday, (a holiday of obscure religious origin), we take a fantastic and fantastically inspiring journey to former woolen mill town and current quirky kooky steampunk paradise Uddebo (be sure to wear some feathers in your hat!) where we connect with instant soulmate sisters Linnéa and Linnéa whose radical textile work with Dreamfactory and other projects is an energized invitation to explore possible ways to survive and thrive in a post-industrial society.

On Friday, we use some ancient caffenol to process some Illy coffee can pinhole images… Oracularly mysterious!

On Saturday, it’s an epic cyanotype/photograms/photobooth of change/Super 8 workshop overflowing with terrific new friends of all ages (and the surprise appearance of SWS: Gothenburg 2016 participant Emely Hansson Cuadros!) in the cool courtyard our favourite community centre: Kulturhuset Bergsjön followed by a sumptuous, high-spirited sing-a-long Swedish Summer Supper with Magnus, Sofia, and the two newest (and most adorable) members of the You Are My Sunshine fan club.

And finally the sweetest Family Sunday in beautiful Bokenäs with Mama Kerstin, Sister Kristina, Dearest Maria and Grillmeister Linus… the warmest of welcomes, delicious traditional meals made with love and local ingredients (moose sausages!!!), walks through the countryside and down memory lane, two cool cats (one sociable, one shy), tours of the garden and the cutest little cabin, the first swim of the season, and lots of laughter. So grateful for this ever-expanding circle of love…

Part 2 of our Norrland adventure begins as we say so long to our beloved Moskosel and head up into the Arctic Circle. Jokkmokk is much more than a “simple and sturdy” set of table and chairs from Ikea, it’s a hub of Sami culture and commerce, where a winter market has been a vibrant meeting place for more than 400 years! At the Ájtte Museum, we are blown away by the amazing array of images, objects and stories that tell the story of Sápmi and Sámi culture; at the Sámi Duodji Sameslöjdstiftelsen, it’s clear that the elders and young artists alike are continuing craft traditions in ways that resonate deeply in the 21st century. If the soul of Jokkmokk pulses with the power, grace and resilience of the Sámi people, Kiruna is an unsettling glimpse at the realities of contemporary resource extraction. LKAB has mined so much iron in the area the entire city is sinking into the pit hollowed out below! But the mine also casts a long shadow above ground in this company town–seems like pretty much everyone here works for the mine, or used to work for the mine, or has a business that relates to the mine, or eats cake at the LKAB museum in the home of the founder of the mine–so all of Kiruna is slowly being moved 2 km away…

“Then there are the indigenous Sami people of Scandinavia, whose traditional lifestyle revolves around herding and hunting reindeer. The Sami have long protested against the building of new mines in their ancestral homeland. LKAB officials claim the relocation of Kiruna won’t affect the Sami because the new site was already a town dump, but the Sami themselves have a somewhat different take. “They just don’t need to give a fuck, so they don’t give a fuck,” a member of the Sami parliament told The Guardian.”

It’s a relief to flee to the fjords. Bibbi told us the Lofoten Archipelago is one of her favourite places on earth and we can see why… the magnificence of nature is almost overpowering in its stark and striking beauty. Combine this with the tantalizing (for JoJo) smell of millions of codfish drying in the wind and a sky that dims but never really darkens throughout the entire night and it’s absolutely unforgettable.

After a stormy ferry ride to the mainland, we make our way back to Sweden and hightail it Vilhelmina, a town Maria spoke about in such glowing terms, we knew we just had to visit. Classic cars and EPA-traktors cruising down the strip, hi-lo thrift store options, delicious soup at the old grey house, my new favourite singer and style icon Lapp-Lisa, and learning about Sámi art and culture from Doris at Risfjells Sameslöjd. An added bonus was discovering a family farm run by the intrepid Ida: lambs and their mamas gamboling around, cows enjoying the automatic backscratcher, a smiling sheep dog, fresh eggs in the donor-pay shop downstairs, and a whole array of amazing wallpaper… We loved it so much we stayed two days!

A night of camping in Mora (home of Santa Claus and the Dala Horse), where the teenagers quit partying at 11 pm on the dot but the birds scream all night long, and then back into Norway for Sunday in Oslo, lunching (brown cheese!) with our online poet pal Nuri (who’s been part of the Haiku You ever since she found us via Eventbrite, even though the 4 PM start time in LA means Nuri’s zooming in at 1 AM each month!) and hanging out at Cinemateket with our dear Elena Pardo and Dahlia Huerto Cano, and new friends including Greg Pope, programmer of The Dream That Kicks series that this evening is presenting Elena’s magnificent expanded cinema piece Pulsos Subterráneos.

From the program notes: “Using three 16mm projectors with live and recorded sound, Pardo investigates the history and contemporary struggles connected to the Zacatecas and Oaxaca mining areas in Mexico. Pardo’s work portrays a communities’ resistance to corporate mining and their defense of its life and culture. Pulsos Subterráneos seeks to understand the struggle to protect the territory through the stories told by its inhabitants and the experiences evoked by its landscapes.”

A perfect ending to our wondrous little road trip.

Besitos, darlings; we’re off to Gothenburg!

A week of chock full of solidarity, creativity and possibility beginning with Göteborg’s May Day Parade when each faction of the the left wends their own route through the city with much banner-waving, call and response chanting (“Nu! Nu! Nu!”, uplifting marching band music mixedwith Clash-y punk anthems, and gifting of red roses. Thank you Cousins Jessika for welcoming us into the Vänsterpartiet for the day… Your dedication to the fight for justice, equality and the needs of working people is truly inspirational!

Next: Pack up the Volvo, it’s time to hit the road… to the North! North! North!

Pristine lakes and giant cheese slicers! Renewable energy fields and smoke-belching factories! Nature preserves and clear cuts! Cappuccino-serving cat-averse Ikeas! Big birds, gorgeous reindeer, foxy foxes and even a lone lady moose right next to roads where giant cargo trucks truck on by! Candy World and Microsoft! Aurora Borealis and Midnight Sun! It’s a land of extremes and contradictions but one thing’s for sure: the North is a place of warm welcomes and new friends who moments after meeting you are generously sharing their knowledge of all things art environment, their passion for community, and their cultural and literal homes.

Thank you dear Bibbi for introducing us to Åsa! Thank you dear Åsa for inviting us to Havremagasinet and Sámi artist Katarina Pirak Sikku’s powerful exhibition Dollet Almmiravdii – Bortåt Himlens Rand (Beyond The Edge of the Sky), for combining art and activism to upend oppressive forces against people and landscapes, and for connecting us to Northern Sustainable Futures. Thank you Linda, Gonçalo and your beautiful extended family of kids, cousins, neighbors, students, visiting artists and kittens for opening the doors of your rambling old schoolhouse that’s also an eclectic, electric castle of infinite wonder where the planets align, the manifestos run wild, the sound of laughter echoes down long halls, the kids commandeer the hot tub, the twilight dinner parties run until 1 in the morning, and art is everything.

The blue sky is your spirit; your heart has many rooms.

Inspired by the vibrant growth, color, art, beauty and happenings of the season, we decide to bring them all together over three days and call it Awakenings. The weekend’s and cross-pollinating creative camaraderie and energetic eco-experiments surpassed our wildest hopes!

We’re back in Sweden, the sun in shining, the fresh faced flowers are lifting their pretty little heads to beam hello!, the big bumbly bumble bees are buzzing about, the folks are flocking to fika at every park and outdoor cafe, aging rockers are playing love songs on their guitars down at the beach beside the topless septuagenarian sunbathers, and the Tough Vikings are throwing flames at the sky and wrecking havoc on the land in Slottsskogen for Earth Day. But the lantern-laden cherry trees aren’t the only things in full bloom, the artists are at it too! Elin Wilkström is zooming around the Botaniska in a cardboard airplane, interviewing people about their thoughts on the war in Ukraine. Ali Bartlett is painting Hopper-esque self portraits, Kat Skovsgaard is inviting the headache-prone to embroider representations of their migraines, Vanna Bowles is exploring the world of papier maché, Maria Magnusson is celebrating the launch of The Human Animal Connection with DJ Bruce Leenus and friends, Beate Leuthold is OUT OF THE SWAMP at Rya Skog where the primeval forest meets the looming industrial apocalypse, and The Here & Now brings the love to the wonderful Bubblan (Thank you for the invite, Christian & Koloni!) for a night of out of sight California Connections, with the CD sensation DJ Frk Magnusson, Berlin’s 13 Year Cicada (who rocked the speaker right off the wall), and the soulful 2 AM bus stop song stylings of Flora, the Diva of Sing Sing (Karaoke)!

Birthdays: love ’em or hate ’em, they can be beautiful moments to embrace all the joy and sorrow of being alive on Earth. What better place to contemplate the mysteries of existence than the magical stones of Southwest England? The Somerset Solar Return is a bit of a ritual: Eight years ago, we’d just wrapped up The Sound We See: A Somerset County Symphony and were walking the Coleridge Trail; this year it’s a full on week-long Stones Tour: Stonehenge! Stanton Drew! Avesbury! I’m feeling the vibes! But it’s the Dear Ones (and dogs) who really make life worth living. Thank you magnificent Joff! Thank you darling Sue and David! Thank you audacious Art Club pals! Thank you Genius James and your amazing family! Thank you sweet Pete! Thank you delightful Deb, Yolanda and Colin! Thank you wonderful Emma and smiley Molly! Thank you lovely Karel, Kate and little Viva! Your steadfast love, convivial camaraderie, inspiring art, and true blue friendship are more magical than all the magical stones put together. Big kiss to love of my life and intrepid traveling companion Paolo Davanzo: you make each and every day a grand adventure.

PS: Mom, the April 13 homemade Beef Bourguignon and sticky toffee pudding at the Druid Arms was for you!

Sleepy bumble bees napping on brand new blossoms. Full moon rising. Emotive emulsions. What’s at the end of the end of the line? Mali melodics. Midnight snowstorms. Midmorning ones too. Mourning. Musing on the “wild.” Super 8 and Sauna. Sweet Marie. Measuring magic. Feathers on trees. Forget the big bunnies, we’ve got witches with brooms partying with the devil! Olav is 50 (Who is Olav?); DJ Leanus is spinning; chocolate cake for everyone! The Day of the Roma; sewing and dreaming; the plaza for protest; the agony of defeat. One perfect day on a little island with sunshine and sweet new friends. Raise a glass of Påskmust! Happy Easter!

The return of sunshine and blue skies meant Week 5 was a time for checking things out: the city bike program, the zazzy vegetarian restaurant/concert hall in the old Sailor’s Church, the thrift store with the secret basement treasure trove of records and art books, our new friend Moa’s poignant art show highlighting the loss of forests in Sweden, the 202 People In A Room portrait show at the Hasselblad Center, piles of Super 8 and 16mm found footage, JAZZ, Wild Strawberries, the Polish restaurant with the pipe-smoking fox. It was also time to check out of the Konstepidemin Galleri as A Little Something wrapped up its three-week run with a weekend of fun: kooky loops, crazy collage, a Sunday Singalong, a heart shaped box of Marabou chocolates, great talks with dynamic dancing tots, Green Party teens who grew up with Greta Thunberg, sassy seniors and all kinds of artists. We may not have sold any tiny treasures to the City of Gothenburg art buyers (despite Paolo’s dynamic framing efforts and strategic red dot decoy placements) but we had more fun and made more stuff with more sweet people than previously believed humanly possible. The bench is in the woods and we’re ready for Residency: Phase 2!

Hello, Snow! The flakes started falling on Monday and continued to enchant us straight through Sunday, with breaks now and then for sunshine and brilliant blue sky. The little deer family left their prints across the pristine drifts around Konstepidemin in the early mornings; on Saturday evening, a big long-eared rabbit hippity hopped right down the length of the little green space in front of our studio. One creature who was not doing much hopping around in the white stuff was JoJo The Katt who preferred to keep his own little snowshoes dry and warm inside!

The week otherwise was all about A-R-T. Planning it, making it, talking about it, looking at it, thinking about it, putting it up and sharing it! There were ideas to hatch, fallen branches to gather, tools to source (thanks for the magic key, Emma!), benches and birdhouses to build, images to assemble, cyanotypes to steam, holes to drill, pins to push and lights to point (hooray for Dorna, Erik, Klara and Emelie!). In between we spent a couple hours with students at the Göteborgs Konstskola (thanks to Director of Studies, Lars Wulcan for the invite!) chatting about some of our favourite female experimental filmmakers including Sweden’s own Gunvor Nelson, made a joyful pilgrimage to our beloved Solrosen vegetarian restaurant, fika’d a most magnificent fika with the incomparable Ulla, took multiple trips to three different thrift stores, checked out the Konstskola open studios, drank many hot beverages with Maria, and lunched with visiting artists from Finland, Mexico and Stockholm.

Late Friday afternoon our little exhibition, A Little Something, opened alongside a giant Konstepidemin Artists + Friends group show plus installations by Tone Linghult and Andrea Coyotzi Borja & Anna Jensen, and woooooeee what an opening it was! Over 600 people stopped by over the course of three hours to check out a mind-blowing array of work and welcome us to the community. And the people kept coming all through Galleri hours on Saturday and Sunday, dropping by to draw, knit, read, meet the Katt, talk, tell stories and make A Little Something with us.

What better way to top off a wild and wonderful week than a cozy Sunday night studio dinner with Linus and Maria… we made the soup and they brought the semla! Life is sweet.