Soft Power

This red rope used to be a part of a photo-installation by photographer Scarlett Hoof↗, and somehow 1000 meter of it ended up in my hands.

What started as an urge for making something humble but forceful grew into the making of this sculptural braid. It is made through notoriously repeating the same thing over and over. It was a collective and performative act of unwrapping the nylon rope which I braided into a new shape.

I wanted to make Pippi Longstockings red braids, this lonely kid showing the world her capabilities despite her poorness. There is some connection to the political term Soft Power, even though I found out this term after the work was done. Similar to the persuasive promises of cultural values, Pippi has now turned into a national symbol for Sweden, deeply embedded into an idea of what Swedishness is. Was that ever the meaning?

Soft Power became a seven meter long braid that was shown during Springboard Art Fair↗ in 2023.