In my art project entitled ‘clouding’ I explore the complex relationship between perception, late capitalism and the influential nature of fiction in shaping our worldview. Realised through a series of pencil drawings on paper, the project challenges the viewer to explore the fluid boundaries of meaning-making, inspired by my personal encounter with a Norwegian employment agency.
The project originated when, instead of submitting a conventional CV, I submitted some drawings to a recruitment agency – a formless creation resulting from the simple movement of my hand with a pencil on paper. The agency’s consultant interpreted them as “Norwegian clouds”, which triggered thoughts of Aristophanes’ “Cloud Cuckoo Land” and the concept of apophenia. The former is an imaginary escape from reality, while the latter is the cognitive tendency to find patterns in random stimuli, similar to seeing shapes in clouds.
‘Clouding’ aims to highlight the power of perception, the allure of fiction and the need to critically question the narratives that shape our reality. The project explores the impact of capitalist realism’s strategy of standardisation, where patterns fit into pre-defined boxes, as Mark Fisher has noted and Hito Steyerl has identified, a shift from seeing to filtering, decoding and pattern recognition. A collection of pencil sketches depicting ambiguous ‘clouds’ is intended to encourage the viewer to explore different interpretations. As capitalism attempts to decode these representations, the project aims to reveal multifaceted aspects, ultimately highlighting systemic inconsistencies that may pose a threat to the existing order.
from the exhibition “Down in the Mines, up in the Clouds”, Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall, Arendal, Norway, 2024
