Pjäs

At first sight the Chinese Pavilion (Kina slott) at Drottningholm is dazzling. The huge amount of objects, details, and colour is quite overwhelming. Upon entry, one is suddenly struck by the immense stillness inside. You move slowly and gracefully through the rooms, careful not to accidentally touch anything. It’s difficult to imagine the doors to the garden suddenly flung wide open, the curtains caught in a breeze, the rooms filled with movement, the soft rustle of silk fabric, sounds of footsteps and voices from another time.

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The Green Salon was a room for activity and human interaction. It was furnished accordingly, depending on the activity for the day. The queen could listen to readings, the crown-prince would draw, the princesses would do needlework, meals could be served here or game tables set up. Outwardly, life must have seemed light-hearted and noble. But it was a regulated fantasy, scheduled and strictly directed like a theatrical play. And behind backs; intrigues and conspiracies took place in secrecy – events that affected many people.

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The floor of the Green Salon is checkered, with a little imagination it can be seen like a game plan or chess board. Two large Chinese papier mâché dolls observe silently from the far end of the room, in the marbled corner niches. Beneath the smooth white surface of their faces lay hidden traces from earlier generations, embedded in layers of waste material, paper, and glue.

In January 2021, reports came of the attack on the US Capitol building, an attempted coup on democracy. News media overflowed with reports and images. As if the past year with the Corona virus wasn’t enough, a sudden, involuntary connection to Lovisa Ulrika's failed coup attempt in 1756 became apparent.

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Processing the unfolding events, the bad news gradually transformed into working material. The pages from the morning paper, with images of rioting people, looting and vandalizing, were shredded into long, thin strips in the shredding machine, then soaked in water and finally mixed into a grey pulp. Together with a few other ingredients, a paper clay was produced. The mixture was then applied onto shapes and forms built in layered papier mâché technique, adding a tangible layer from the historic event.

 

Some have painted faces, just like the Chinese dolls. Several layers of gofun, finely ground oyster shells mixed with rabbit skin glue, then sanded and polished until the the surface shimmered.

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Slowly, surely, characters evolved.

 

Silent observers, in dialogue with each other, with history. Making a scene within the stillness.