This is the fifth piece in the Stone Conversations series. It deals with group dynamics. The untenable alienated position of the subject pushes it into a permanent state of desire that compels it to find a connection with anything outside itself. One aspect of this force is the formation of socio-cultural groups. They can be small or large and often intersect. These groups are defined by an act of language that severs the group from the whole. However, language is only clean and pure on a strictly semantic level and is always permuted when applied to the material. 

This constitutes a problem when finding proper identifiers for a group, such as “Swedes” or “Artists”. We often use negative strategies; it’s easier as the group must be homologous, and everything outside it is defined by its heterogeneity. The solution is to treat the identifier as a master signifier—a sign that can’t be further divided or explained. This is possible because our identification with it works on an emotional level, which bypasses conscious logic and argument. This way, it is experienced more as a part of the body than the mind and, thus, more authentic and sincere.

See a video of the work in progress here and a video presentation here.

This series depicts imagined conversations among stones. What would they say? The series reminds me of the scene in "Everything Everywhere All at Once", where two stones are talking at the end of a cliff. But in this series, I assume the language of stones is restricted to only one word—the imprint of their shape. This single word can have any meaning. Sometimes I think that is enough. Maybe the core of language is to communicate—not to make sense.

Speaking Stones is a compilation of paintings made with imprints of ordinary stones.

I see the stone as a metaphor for popular struggle and protest. It is the closest available weapon to the powerless. Throwing stones is a symbolic form of violence. The aim is not to overpower the opponent physically. It demonstrates defiance in the face of power by expressing concretely that the premises of the situation aren't acceptable. The stone speaks but not in a language open to negotiation or dialogue. A conversation means accepting the context in which it takes place and is thus always, to a certain degree, a form of submission. The language of stones is the language of mute matter. A form of silence that nevertheless speaks clearly and directly. The stone represents the resistance in itself from a place outside of language.

The stone is an entirely exchangeable and ordinary object that exists everywhere. At the same time, each stone is unique and has its own beauty and unfathomable mystery for anyone open to seeing it. This duality fascinates me. A stone is perhaps the closest we can get to a thing-in-itself, bound as we are to language. It is sealed around itself, oblivious to the outside world. It simply exists. In a way, we can never truly understand. It is infinite in its everydayness, specific and concrete in its presence.

Res Ipsa is a compilation of works made by an act shaping the filler once it is prepared inside the frame. The works thus function as a recording device and give a statement of the event taking place while the filler was still wet.

Res Ipsa is Latin for "the thing itself" and is part of the juridical term "Res ipsa loquitur" (the thing speaks for itself), used when an injury or accident in itself clearly shows who is responsible, such as an instrument left inside a body after surgery.