It's not that bad – Fragments of Authority, Power and Individual Existence

As an individual I constantly feel opposed to pressure. The pressure of my own expectations and the duty to achieve something in life paired with the existence of a multitude of elements in society that exert additional pressure on my life, body, as well as my wellbeing. Elements such as family and authorities in the form of institutions and superiors, such as the schools I went through. In fact, the structure of society itself is a structure of pressure on the individual, a pressure that different parts of the society experience in varying ways and intensity. Investigating structures and relations to authorities has played a major part in my art practice and I found myself wandering between fascination, rejection and aversion towards authorities. A question I was particularly interested in was how these institutions and structures influence the feeling of security in contrast to freedom, in an individual and general way. I investigated, realizing their immense impact on the societies they were situated in. With a great historical interest, engendered by close family members, mostly my grandmother, I link my research to our present reality and the historical processes that shaped it and how past events influence current power and social structures. In its essence, my artistic work is directed towards the white majority to re-think their privilege and aims to motivate its members to be compassionate and complicit with minorities and marginalized groups. This essay addresses the relations between authorities, society and the individual, as well as myself and how these relations are affected by events that change the reception and significance of societal authority.