The Army

I had a cultural start to my week when I met up with my best art pal in Stockholm on Sunday.

The Modern Museum is currently showing a retrospective show of Siri Derkerts life and creations. It really inspired me...

Siri felt strongly about the environment, peace movement and equality between men and women. Although she was born over 100 years before me, it’s the same subjects that my peers and I can relate to today. But instead of protesting against the war in Vietnam, we’re now discussing the peace operations in Afghanistan. And instead of protesting against the rule that once banned female art students to draw nude male models, we’re now disputing unequal pay for the same job – depending on if you have a penis.

We’ve become so civilized, wouldn’t you say?

Makes me wonder when it became alright for women to paint nude male models in Sweden? At least we were one of the first countries to allow women at art schools, while not much was expected of us in the early 1900s. Whatever year, I won’t be surprised. The last country in Western Europe to allow women to vote was Liechtenstein. The year was 1984.

In Stockholm I also enjoyed Lars Wallin’s display of dresses at the exhibition ‘fashion stories’ at Walldemarsudde. Both shows are amazing and well worth a visit – also for the museums architecture and fabulous sites.

Today on the other hand, I started my day with a bike ride to town for a facial. It was super relaxing. I also drove the family motor boat for the first time – a Buster Magnum at 50 knots. I loved it. I already love the sea and boats so this was obviously up my street, plus the weather’s great. It’s been sunny all week.

I think the massage of the face and shoulders this morning made me realize I am actually on holiday. And I will be off for five weeks in total – boy do I need this break. In fact, everybody needs a good break.

OK, it’s my dad’s birthday and I’m being called a computer nerd, so better dash!

I feel like a little kid on holiday with a tired parent.

Lying in the sun all day, only getting up for a long lunch on the hotel balcony has charged me up with ideas and a good spirit. I want to do stuff! Right now I really want to go dancing and have a nice dinner beforehand. We’ve found a few brilliant places at the Portomaso area, where the Hilton is located - for some reason I tend to register this hotel wherever I go. Perhaps it's the ugly, blue 80s logo that draw my attention, or the all American beds and the lounge that attracts.

Yesterday was spent exploring Valletta. The capital is, just like Malta, hugely dilapidated but the 300 year old buildings are still very charming and have a huge refurbishing potential!

We spent most of the afternoon at a rooftop restaurant with amazing views and lots of Villa Giustiniani prosecco. It was a great day. Well, better go wake up my friend now.

These are two of the images from my presentation at Konstfack on Saturday. We did our own modelling to experience the power perspective of the images. No subliminal messages here. :-)

The Dior woman is turned into something wild (an animal) with such sexual hypnotic power over men, that she needs to be controlled and held back, to keep the viewer (male gaze) safe.

The Givency woman is turned into a powerless object (meat or pray: a rabbit) to be consumed by a male sexual fantasy.

Just as in pornography, the Givenchy woman has been cropped out of full proportion, to instead draw attention to certain body parts: her open lips, her naked back and bottom and drawn up shoulder – exposing her left breast. These body parts are in focus to serve a male desire. In doing so, the model becomes an object without power. She is turned into a body to be consumed, in this case: by the viewer. Her mask represents a male sexual fantasy that perhaps the woman is both an angel and a demon? The steps in the background only lead one way and confirm: “there is no return for the whore”. (www.reklamfabriken.kov.se/start.html)

In all visual communication: in advertising, Hollywood, etc. these are very common portraits of women: the sensual goddess or cat-eyed dangerous woman.

None of the women in the above ads are powerful, and none give a fair image of what 'woman' actually is. In fact, how women are still portrayed today build on a long tradition of art; created by men – for men. Traditionally woman has been linked to nature, to represent the un-intelligent and wild. Man’s fear of the wild has created a need to dominate and control.

Traditionally, men have always represented culture, civilization and order. No news there, but why does images in advertising still build on this tradition? I guess it takes a long time to break long-standing traditions. But isn’t it about time that someone takes a fresh approach and portrayed more women from a woman’s perspective? And not a 200 year-old male!?

Having said that, in some countries, women are still treated on the same low level as animals.

The snow in Enköping is gone. Melted by the sun over the last few days. I’ve now got two weeks off from work. I really need it, my body and mind is exhausted from the last work exercise. I also finished my course at Konstfack this weekend.

I double booked myself by mistake, so ended up bringing one of my best friends to school in Stockholm. She had flown in from Northern Sweden to visit. She really enjoyed hearing all the project presentations at Konstfack. Although, I didn’t intend for her to keep up with my work schedule all weekend.

We’re constantly fed visual images in our lives, and don’t usually reflect over their subliminal communication and what they’re actually telling us. In advertising for example, what’s the visual communication we take in regarding masculinity and femininity? And how do we view the models in advertising? Why are they portrayed they way they are? Do we consume their bodies with our minds and fantasy, or are we identifying with them? If so, what’s the identity that we take on? And what impact does this consumption or identification have in our lives and society even?

Does media’s subliminal messages impact how we treat our children differently in school and at home – depending on if they are a girl or a boy? Does it impact how we view a mother and a father and their responsibilities, or men and women at work?

These are questions that inspired me ahead of my work. So in my project, I analyzed two images in perfume advertising from a gender and power perspective. I wish you could all read it but I need to translate it into English for that to happen… Instead, you can view tow of the images from my presentation above!

I must add that Stockholm was much more enjoyable together with my friend this weekend. We managed to avoid most traffic, eat at my favourite Japanese and enjoy the sunshine. 

This week I’ve also been in Uppsala, 40mins north of Enköping. I spent an evening there catching up with one of my best friends over dinner and drinks.

We went to a place called “Plock” located in a modern glass building with high ceilings in central Uppsala. The garlic-marinated mussels were amazing, but the rest of the food wasn’t very special and definitely over priced considering both ingredients and size.

Although, I was super impressed with Plock’s self invented cocktail menu; apart from a classic champagne and blackberry aperitif, I tried one of their cocktail recommendations consisting of Absolut lemon vodka and Geikkiekan sake, fresh pineapple, lemon, coriander, ginger and some sugar. You have to try it!!

Served in a tall festive glass with lots of ice and a straw, it looked a bit like a Mohito, but wasn’t as sweet. A success in opinion.

On our way out, we saw Plock’s diploma for being voted Best bar in 2008 - probably in the Uppsala area.  

My mum and grandmother came to visit from Saturday night to Sunday night. I must admit I was shattered after my first full week at work and the course in Stockholm and wasn’t the liveliest host on Saturday evening. Luckily they brought a TV so I could retire at 9pm.

We spent Sunday at a nearby IKEA, where I found a giant black chest of drawers and a bookcase. I also bumped into an old classmate from high school. “I thought you were living in London working in radio”, he said. I explained I have just moved back, now living in Enköping doing something similar. He replied “Oh, just less glamorous”. I agreed. He then had to run after his young daughter into the children area.

Don’t know what glamour he meant, but sure; you can get glamour in London. However, it never made my life feel any richer or happier.

By 10.30pm on Sunday I had put together the chest of drawers and emptied my last box of clothes. The room smelt of wood and dust from all the furniture, despite vacuuming. At half two in the morning, I woke up with an insane headache.

I took of sip from my glass of water and could feel pieces of wood dust going down my throat. I coughed and went into the bathroom to blow my nose.

The wood stank was so strong I pulled the mattress from the bed and decided to sleep on the living room floor. It was like my head was about to explode and I was thirsty. My head started to spin. I was alone. Is it possible to get poisoned from IKEA furniture? Has anyone ever died from breathing in too much wood dust?

You realize how alone you are when you start to worry about death in the middle of the night, and how pointless it is with no one else around.

At three o clock in the morning it became clear to me how much I’ve tried to suppress my experience in Peru eight months ago, when I nearly died from altitude sickness. I have nothing written in my diary from that day,

13 July 2010:

I had crossed two 5000 meters peaks that day and we hit a storm after the second one. The cold weather had come quickly and it was raining when we got to camp. It was the fifth day and we were half way through our hike of Alpamayo.

Our tents had been raised at 4000 meters on a big green, surrounded by white and grey mountains. The clouds were moving quickly and after dinner it was pitch black. Since my nose was blocked, I had kept my friend Rachela awake so she wanted to sleep in separate tents that night. For the first time on the hike, I went to bed alone.

Before going to sleep I swallowed two extra strong Vicks flu pills bought in America by my ex boyfriend. I woke up an hour later to realize I couldn’t breath. It reminded me of our relationship and I blocked out the immediate guilt from taking the pills…

I was struggling to open the tent in the pitch black. My head started to spin and I thought I was going to loose consciousness. Finally I crawled out and noticed the frost on the grass with my hands, but I couldn’t feel the cold. I needed to get closer to the other tents.

As soon as the change in temperature hit my body, I started to see white big flashes in the sky. It felt like electricity going through my brain causing a stir and a simultaneous flash in the horizon.

I could feel my blood pressure running out of my arms and legs and my body became heavy. I had no energy to carry on crawling, so I sat down.

With great effort I managed to form the guide’s name with my lips and yell; Abell!

It was such a clear night and I would normally enjoy the sight of so many bright stars and planets. This time however, I had no idea what I was doing or why I was sitting alone on a mountain in Peru.

I thought that would be my last night in this life. And I hated the fact that I would die alone without having experienced what's really worth living for. It became so clear to me that night, and it gave me hope and it kept me fighting. Love.

On Saturday I took the 8.10am train to Stockholm’s Konstfack. It’s an art school where I’ve been taking a course since October. Our project is super exciting and I’ve become completely engrossed in the last few months.

As part of the course ‘Visual Communication’ I am analyzing perfume advertising from a gender perspective together with two other students. We’re all professionals.

This weekend we narrowed down our initial nine images to two – the visual interpretations that grab us the most, and they’re also very representative for the look of many perfume campaigns.

Next up is to go into the studio and photograph ourselves in the same pose as the models. However, we’ll be exaggerating the message in the original photos… And experiencing how the postures and facial expressions make us feel. Can’t wait to share the outcome with you in April, when the course finishes.