For over two hundred years, the Reijmyre Glasbruk has produced glass objects and sold the ‘finished products’ while keeping some of the leftovers in piles behind the factory. At first the piles were clearly separate from the surrounding landscape but, with time, they merged and this mix of waste and land became one landscape, our landscape. Through this multi-year project we engaged a group of regional and international artists in researching this situation, i.e. the waste beneath our feet, that is now slated to be ‘cleaned up’.
When we learned that the local authorities were doing a pre-study of the contaminated land, in order to decide what course to take in remediating the site, we decided to produce a parallel pre-study led by artists. For three years, Rejmyre Art Lab joined a working group, initiated by the County Administrative Board, tasked with addressing the contamination. Together with international, national and regional artists, we formed an artistic research group (a strand of our long-term research in Rejmyre) to investigate the situation from a variety of multi-disciplinary, artist-led perspectives.
One of the propositions of artistic research is a repositioning of the role of the artist in society, as one who (through the making of artworks) facilitates a process of public reflection and consideration of contemporary complexities. This is what contemporary artists are being trained to do in art academies around the world, there are fewer opportunities for us to exercise these skills in real world contexts. One the core conceptual propositions of Detox : Clean it up! is that ‘waste’ is ‘valuable material.’ In order to ‘clean it up’, we need to take responsibility, not just for the safe disposal of the waste, but, also for its potential as a resource that allows us to consider who we were, who we are and who we might be becoming.
THE PROJECT
In 2018, through a careful negotiation process, Rejmyre Art Lab became an official part of the municipal working group addressing remediation issues. This gave us direct access to information from relevant authorities and companies. We exchanged ideas with environmental strategists, soil specialists, geologists, historians, and archaeologists. Seventeen artists were invited, over a three-year period, to investigate the site through their individual approaches and collective processes.
The result is a series of artworks and an artist-led pre-study of the contaminated land (to accompany the other pre-studies being commissioned by the municipality). The pre-study is compiled in a book, co-edited by Hanna Lundborg and Daniel Peltz, highlighting uncomfortable aspects and difficult challenges that emerge in the attempt to clean the site.
EXHIBITIONS
The project has been presented to the public through two exhibitions:
DeTox – Clean it Up! at Konsthallen Engelska Magasinet in Rejmyre (2020) and
DeTox – Clean it Up! at Östergötlands Museum in Linköping (2022–2023).
ENSEMBLE RESIDENCIES
Part of the research within DeTox – Clean it Up! was carried out through what we refer to as Ensemble Residencies, where a group of artists gather to investigate the research theme collectively and individually. (DeTox – Clean it Up! I & II) Later, each artist deepened their engagement by creating site-specific, embedded installations around Rejmyre.
ARTISTS PARTICIPATING IN THE PROJECT
Hasti Radpour (IR/SE), Mattias Hofvendahl (SE), Frida Hållander (SE), Harrie Liveart – Meri Linna & Saija Kassinen (FI), Sissi Westerberg (SE), Kerstin Ribers (SE), Daniel Peltz (US/SE) & Kristoffer Tejlgaard (DK), Cecilia Jonsson (SE/NO), Erna E Skúladóttir (IS), Karin Blomgren (SE/NO), Stine Bidstrup (DK), Tilda Dalunde (SE), Nicholas Cheng (HK/SE), Ulla Ridderberg (SE), Saad Hajo (SE)
SEMINAR
On February 3, 2021, a public seminar was held where artistic participants in the project gathered to exchange experiences and insights based on their work within the project. (a video recording of the seminar is avaiable at the seminar link above)
PUBLICATIONS
Detox Research Theme - video introducing the reseach theme
DeTox – Clean it Up! - PDF of the artistic feasibility study published in 2022