UROLIG by Sarah Folker Kappel

urolig, 2020
Mobile (sewing thread, pearls, silk and acrylic glass rods), 120 x 120x 230 cm (size variable)
Video (mp4), 5 min. 40 sec.

“The project ‘urolig’ is a mobile and video work addressing concern and confusion about being a young adult on the verge of playing a role in society. The project is an attempt to express the position you are in when you are well aware of all the unjust and dysfunctional structures in society, but at the same time don’t possess any power to change them and are afraid of normalizing and internalizing the unjustness over time.

The figures of the mobile are made of crocheted sewing thread and text written in Danish embroidered on pieces of silk. The crocheted net structures against the embroidered pieces of silk symbolize how the primary feeling of chaos and confusion is mixed with a few insights and realizations. At first glance, the fragile and traditionally feminine crafts in soft colors together with the mobile’s harmless and playful visual expression make the work come across as dreamy and naive. However, reading the quite matter-of-fact and straightforwardly critical text and looking at the hard and cold industrial surroundings, the contrast is clear. The contrast communicates that even though the criticized social norms and structures might be fairly easy to point out and find fault with, they are very difficult to deviate from. They are embedded in us from early childhood, silently but always present in our everyday lives, and therefore probably impossible to truly free oneself from.

The title ‘urolig’ is a Danish word, which translates to both noisy and turbulent and uneasy and restless. In this way, the title captures how feelings of strong willpower and purposefulness exist alongside nervousness and uncertainty. Additionally, the title contains wordplay, as the first syllable ‘uro’ is not only the Danish word for restlessness but also for mobile.” (Text by courtesy of Sarah Folker Kappel)