Art and technology. Reality and Virtual Reality. 

In June 2014 I became the inaugural resident artist at Limsta Säteri, a farm two hours north of Stockholm. Rural Projects are involved with a study by the artist run organisation Soil 1.1 who are developing an international artist’s residency program for artists who deal with technology, art, and farming.

During my stay, I was given a small studio and access to the farm and the local environment. I explored local towns, the agricultural landscape, and the regional architecture. I was moved by the colours and styles of barns, and by what I learned from the agricultural community.

The period that I worked was filled with exploration. I used a small quadrocopter to record video and take photographs from above the landscape. I flew over farm meetings to which I had been invited, and met with farmers to discuss what benefits real-time aerial photography could have to their business, the local economy, and their environment.

In the long evenings (I was there for the summer solstice, so there were only a few hours of almost-darkness at night) I spent time in the studio, reviewing my photographs and building a wall relief sculpture. The sculpture was unexpected, and was inspired by the exterior window frames of the local gothic architecture, the omnipresent elongated black arrow road signs of the region, and the red and green grain storage barn at the farm. “Gothic Arrow” now belongs to Henrik Wallenberg, CEO of Limsta Säteri.

My visit concluded with a public presentation by me, and by Soil 1.1 at Konstfrämjandet’s space in Stockholm (Konstfrämjandet is a Swedish Art and Education organisation). Here I presented my work with another Soil Artist: Johanna Bystrom where we discussed our process and the potential of the international art residency.