Hvor er jeg så * (2017-2018)

You’re not to think you are anything special. You’re not to think you are smarter than we are. You’re not to think you are more important than we are.  

- an excerpt from Jante's Law by Aksel Sandemose

Jante’s Law describes a pattern of group behavior towards certain individuals in Denmark: a sociological term that describes a negative attitude towards individuality and success. It refers to a doctrine that diminishes individual effort and places all emphasis on the community, denigrating those who try to stand out as individual achievers.

I explore ideas of control, intervention, censorship and identity. I create my work by altering what is precious, making permanent marks that transform the gelatin silver prints.  I have to trust my instincts, my hands, and my eyes. I have to live with my mistakes. Living with my mistakes propels me forward.

*Where am I then

Hvor er jeg så - a handmade Artist book

In Our Hands (2017)

This project started as an experiment of getting myself out of my comfort zone, stopping strangers and connecting with them even tho only for a brief moment. We are all human after all, so why was I scared. Observing my fellow humans in the streets of Copenhagen and stopping them on their path. Photographing their hands. 

“Look at your hands, your beautiful useful hands, you’re not an ape, you’re not a parrot, you are not a slow loris, or a smart missile, you’re human. Not British, not American, not Israeli, not Palestinian, you’re human. Not catholic, not protestant, not muslim, not hindu, you’re human. We all start human, we end up human, human first, human last, we’re human, or we’re nothing. Nothing but bombs and poison gas, nothing but guns, and torturers, nothing but slaves, of greed and war, if we’re not human. Look at your body with its amazing systems, of nerve-wires and blood canals, think about your mind, which can think about itself, and the whole universe, look at your face, which can freeze into horror, or melt into love, look at all that life, all that beauty. You’re human, they are human, we are human, lets try to be human. Dance. - "Human beings" by Adrian Mitchell

Our hands tell our story in such a human way. They unite us in a handshake, chain us together in a firm grip and connects us with eachother when we lent a helping hand.