Life. Not just mine.
27 may – 28 january 2024
As a teenager, Anders Marner set up a darkroom in the potato cellar of the house on Kommendantsgatan in Boden. Marner photographed himself, his family, friends in the neighborhood and at school. The everyday and public life were his subjects, without commissions or assignments. Among other things, he photographed Boden’s last beer café and the 1971 auction of the living quarters in Boqvistska house, for many the last remnants of Boden’s high society, which for Marner marks the beginning of the people’s home. With this exhibition, Marner returns to the 60s and 70s and the black and white imagery of youth. His photographs highlight the spirit of the times, showing what seems lost or outdated, while trying to understand what the world was like then and there.
In the exhibition, Parallel to Anders Marner’s photographs are three different fragments of Roxy Farhat and Bengt Göran Olsson’s film La société du spectacle. The film had its world premiere earlier this year and is based on Guy Debord’s 1967 book of the same title. Debord was
one of the founders of the Situationist International, a radical political and cultural organization that played an important role in the May 1968 revolution. The film delves into Debord’s prophetic theories in relation to today’s over-saturated flow of images and their control of masses. Marner’s photographs provide a glimpse into the youth of the ”society of the spectacle” and the protests in Boden and Stockholm, as in many other parts of the world, against the increasingly commercialized social order.
About the artists
Anders Marner is a professor in pedagogical work specializing in image didactics at the Aesthetic Department, Umeå University. His research focuses on aesthetic issues in education, particularly in the field of art. Anders Marner has participated in several national evaluations on this subject. His theoretical interests include media ecology, socio-cultural theory, and semiotics.
Roxy Farhat (b. 1984, Tehran) is a Swedish artist and director. Farhat’s artistic practice encompasses various forms of expression including performance, video art, music videos, and film, where feminism, anti-capitalism, and absurdity are recurring themes. Her works have been exhibited in several solo and group exhibitions in Sweden and internationally, including at Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Bonniers Konsthall; Southbank Centre, London; and Haugar Vestfold Kunstmuseum in Norway. She has a degree from Konstfack in Stockholm and UCLA in Los Angeles, USA.
Göran Hugo Olsson (b. 1965, Lund) is a Swedish film director and producer. He has created several internationally acclaimed films such as “That Summer” (2017), “Fonko” (2016), “The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975” (2011), and “Fuck You, Fuck You Very Much” (1998). Additionally, he directed documentaries such as “May 68,” which premiered on SVT in 2018. His films have been showcased at festivals, cinemas, and on TV. He is also one of the founders of the production company Story.
