Rulers

2023

Excerpt from The Gods, The Dishes, The Paycheck:

“The crown is a fascinating object. It sits atop the ruler’s head, with the spikes resembling arrows pointing upwards to the divine. It is a symbol of the ruler’s connection to a higher power or a god of some sort. Throughout history rulers have based their authority on a connection to the divine. That’s why I find the crown to be such an intriguing object. It carries a rich symbolism that motivated my entire series of approximately 40 crowns. 

The act of ruling is that of exercising control over something or someone. In the Scandinavian culture that I’m part of, there’s a strong inclination towards control, whether it’s over our minds or bodies, our time, our surroundings, or the way we organize our lives and society as a whole. This leaves little room for the unexpected, the weird, and the unpredictable. However, there are many things that we can neither predict nor control. Things never play out in exactly the way we expect or plan. 

The crowns bear titles such as Ruler of the Nervous System, Ruler of Success, Ruler of the Flight Lines of Migrating Birds, Ruler of Bothersome E-mails and Ruler of Sleep. All of these are phenomena we have a greater or lesser influence on, but which we cannot control. Humans exploit the Earth’s natural resources and push at our planetary boundaries, but we can’t control the consequences of our actions – we are not gods. This gap between influence and control is crucial to acknowledge if we want to approach the world responsibly and with humility.” – Hannah Toticki

Photos by David Stjernholm and Anne Mie Bak