Laurits Nymand Svendsen

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Subjectivity Accumulator

2009/2011, drawing (150cm x 150cm) and text

Detail: The drawing is of a grid, made by repeatedly dividing the square piece of paper. Since it's a freehand drawing, the grid is uneven – every flaw is carried over from one division to the next. The result is a wavy pattern.

(Text by drawing)


Tilstande af ubegribelighed; objektive udsigter


Jeg er et isbjerg på kollisionskurs med RMS Titanic. Jeg flyder kolossalt i mørket og viser mig kun for sent. Når rædslen vækkes i den synkende masse, da er det mig, af hvem den indgydes, og når orkesteret ufortrødent fortsætter, da er det mig, musikanterne trodser; uden mig vaktes modet aldrig. Hver sidste afsked, som Winslet og DiCaprio måtte tage om, er et mislykket forsøg på at formidle min magts aftryk.


Jeg er Knut, omgivet af mine miniatureefterligningers tåger. I mit klarsyns få øjeblikke iagttager jeg grænsen for mit eget storhedsvanvid: Min mors død har åbnet karrieremuligheder, som de fleste kun kan drømme om. Vis mig en anden filmstjerne, som ikke ville kalde sig skuespiller!, eller vis mig en mindre anstrengt miljøforkæmper. Mit er det stumme orakels lod; besidder af navlens ensomme sæde i en malstrøm af djævles og købmænds paroler.


Jeg er det mikroskopiske bjørnedyr. Dræb mig, men jeg lever stadig; af alle bekymringer er døden min fjerneste. At nogen skulle ønske sig min evige forbandelse; hjælp ham, at han ikke lykkes!, men jeg er splittet mellem denne udødelige martyrs tanke og en anden mere nedrig: kan han, der først ved evne skænker sig selv den skæbne, ikke også lære at fjerne den igen? Det interstellare eventyrs største attraktion er håbet om atter at glemme den smertefuldt lindrende kryptobiose.


Jeg er Hale-Bopp i ufravigelig bane. To mænd har lagt deres navne til mit: én har altid har jagtet mig; en andens lykke er det usandsynlige tilfælde. Hvem kunne have forudset, at disse navne skulle binde familier sammen, skulle forvirre nattedyr, skulle inspirere til Jordens evakuering? Af tanker som disse underholdes jeg i min nomadiske rejses natte, hvor ellers kun den evige destination findes. De siger, at usynlige engle rider på mit himmellegeme; jeg har set en engels mindste detalje.




(English translation)


Conditions of unfathomableness; objective outlooks


I am an iceberg on collision course with the RMS Titanic. I float colossally in the dark and only show myself too late. When horror strikes the sinking crowd I am the cause of it, and when the orchestra undeterred continues it is me whom the musicians defy; without me the courage would never awaken. Every last farewell that Winslet and DiCaprio must redo is a failed attempt to convey the impression of my power.


I am Knut, surrounded by the hazes of my miniature replications. In my rare moments of clarity I behold the limit of my own grandeur: The death of my mother has opened carrier opportunities that most can only dream of. Show me another movie star who would not call himself an actor!, or show me a less strained environmentalist. Mine is the silent oracle’s fate; possessor of the lonely seat in the navel in a vortex of devils’ and salesmen’s harangues.


I am the microscopical tardigrade. Kill me, but I am still alive; of all my worries death is the slightest. That any would wish for my eternal curse; help him that he is unsuccessful!, but I am torn between this immortal martyr’s thought and another more devious: can he, who first by his skill commits himself to that fate, not also learn to remove it again? The greatest attraction of the interstellar adventure is the hope of once more forgetting the painfully soothing crytobiosis.


I am Hale-Bopp in my certain path. Two men have given their names to mine: one has always chased me; the other’s bliss is fortunate luck. Who could have predicted that these names would strengthen family bonds, would confuse nocturnal animals, would inspire the evacuation of the Earth? By thoughts like these I amuse myself in the nights of my nomadic journey where otherwise only the eternal destination lingers. They say that invisible angels ride on my celestial body; I have seen the smallest detail of an angel.