Rabbit Trail
(Installation 2023)
This work is based on my insights from my PhD project in artistic research from the University of Agder.
The figures of the child, crocodile and rabbit are central to my idea that an ideology of racial supremacy is passed down to the very young in society. Racism is so socialised into white children that as adults, it is difficult to understand that you can be racist.
The drawing is made directly onto the wall and is filled with quotes from my poems and thesis, the lines draw images and text together. The overall feeling is things are linked. I work on a black background to invert the way we normally read drawing. This inversion allows the seer to look at normal things a bit differently.
White Innocence?
Helen Eriksen contributes with a wall drawing – white line on a black wall – where text and drawing bring racism to the forefront. Through questions and statements, she addresses us: Who gets to speak? Am I white privileged itself at work? Give me your tears, I will drink them?
Eriksen is concerned with how racist attitudes are ingrained in all of us. A quote in this wall drawing is taken from the Norwegian Felleskatalogen, a kind of encyclopedia of medicines, which presents itself as a neutral source. It was there that Eriksen encountered a characterization of Muslim women: – "The Felleskatalogen informs us that Muslim women have a greater risk of Vitamin D deficiency than others, as they are mostly indoors and their bodies are often covered. Such racist and reductive "truths" are passed on to the next generation. I feel that we are not quite ready to admit that our society is built on such inherited ideas and stereotypes, but that they nevertheless permeate our collective mindset. We organize society based on established narratives related to class, race, and gender. How can we create new narratives if, without realizing it, we reproduce these?"
The white text in the wall piece pulsates, it is as if it growing in front of our eyes, bursting its own boundaries and creating ripple effects. Various animals are featured side by side on the wall, both mythical creatures and animals from our real world. In our everyday language, animals often have a clear role and symbolic meaning. For example, a crocodile is cynical and sheds its crocodile tears when it devours its prey. At the same time, different colors are associated with characteristics; white symbolizes innocence."
Excerpt from Collective Logs by Nina M. Schjønsby
https://www.numermagasin.no/artikler/kollektive-loggf%C3%B8ringer
