Denmark — STOMA

Hunger, or, Something is rotten in the state of Denmark
Aahrus, Denmark
2024

This work explores the relationship between the intermediary agents between the creation of an artwork and the artist. Often, there is a disjuncture of intentions throughout the art commission process. In the case of public artworks, moral standards and other conventions become more significant, influencing what the interested parties deem appropriate to be included in the mural.

This often leads to a clash between the original proposal and the overall intent of the project, which is frequently rooted in the artist's vision.

For the mural featured here, the commissioning organization reached out to propose a piece addressing hunger, framed within one of the seven international issues identified by the United Nations. After extensive discussions about the mural's design, we aimed to define content that, from the artist's perspective, could invite broad and provocative interpretations. Conversely, the organization sought to narrow the range of possible interpretations to convey a reductive, ad-like message. They hoped that the image would serve as an illustration for their narrative. This frame of thinking, we find, risks diminishing the relationship between the viewers and the artwork itself.

In response, we decided to create a piece that suggested subversion in a positive moral direction. We began by identifying key terms that the organization used in their email correspondence with us. These terms included "zero hunger," "poverty," "scarcity," and "United Nations." We then plugged these terms into a search engine and selected the top image search result as our reference.

We then composed the mural in a manner that would evoke an advertisement. We framed the reference image against a clean, white background, adjusting the scale and placement to put the piece in conversation with a billboard underneath.

The result is a sterile mural, primarily viewed by passing vehicles, awkwardly situated just a few steps away from a non-place/hotel where there is no reception and entry is granted via a code. Two small bedroom windows look directly onto the mural.