State of nature is a term that describes a hypothetical way of life that existed before civil societies and is commonly used in political philosophy in order to understand the reasons for forming social contracts and creating nation states. Depending one the view one takes, this state can be seen as an ideal state of harmony as well as one of brutal egotism, in extension leading to conclusions about society and humanity as either good or corrupting forces.

Depicted in the work we see a person with a maple seedpod on the tip of the nose, an act that might intuitively lead to thoughts of child’s play, or the story of Pinocchio, but that in extension also could raise questions of our relation to, and conception of, nature. The index in the work stems from the boarders of the nature reserve of The Rya Forest, located at Hisingen in Gothenburg. Surrounded by oil industries the location exemplifies how nature is simultaneously constructed and depleted through modernity. Due to it’s remote location from habitation the forest has for decades also served as a heterotopia for the local rave culture, where many of the conventions of society are momentarily discarded.

Special thanks to Vida Roos

Installed in the exhibition Naturtillståndet at Galleri Konstepidemin, 2024.