Ygdrasil and the collector
What is a perfect world and what is the idea behind this exhibition? Is the aim to show beautiful art? Or is the aim to chock and to make viewers think about the world we live in?
Is a perfect world a vision and a dream or does it really exist, right here and now? I am not a painter and I would not call myself an artist. I usually work with moving images but for this project I chose another role. I became the collector. I have spent the last few months collecting items that were made by different people under the motto “a perfect world”. For some it was a dream about democracy and peace in a country far away. For others it was the hope of parents getting back together. A 4-year old told me that a perfect world has to have colours so together we made a colourful tree where all ideas about a perfect world could be shown. The idea behind the tree comes from the Nordic mythology where the tree Ygdrasil is the centre of the universe. The tree is used as a symbol of the perfect world as it does not only provide the oxygen we need for our survival but is essential to us in so many other ways. You can see the tree as a hiding place or as the home for thousands of different species. The tree can challenge us as we try to climb as high as possible. The tree gives protection but it is not invulnerable. You have to take care off it and nurture it to help it grow. In a perfect world all people should be free to express themselves and feel safe in their creativity. Our tree is not a beautiful piece of art. If you look at it from some distance it looks like a very naïf attempt to paint a tree but if you go closer, read the poems and see the pictures in and around it, it will hopefully give you another impression. All kinds of people have contributed to make this tree.
A group of illiterate refugees have written poems on the theme a perfect world. Young children, teenagers and elderly people from a nursing home have all taken part in this project. It might not be perfect art but it is filled with the idea of a perfect world.