July 22nd Norway was exposed to terror, a young Norwegian native murdered 87 people. There was an immediate response after the attach that seemed pure and authentic – we marched with roses, the term more openness, more love to fight terror was expressed over and over. But after a little while the response didn’t feel so authentic to me anymore, it felt more like we were in love with our own good reactions…I started to collect articles that scratched what I feel is a very polished Norwegian surface. Eventually this process led me to ask the Norwegian philosopher and writer, Lars Svendsen, to collaborate with me on this project titled Cruelty Has a Human Heart. Svendsen is the author of the book «The Philosophy of Evil».
Through text, colors, stitches and dialogue we examine the theme of evil. The starting point is a 88 quotes gathered from philosophy, religion, litterateur, politics and more, all are reflections on evil. In workshops with a variety of groups, the theme are discussed and the quotes handwritten by participants on painted canvas patches. The text is later hand stitched following the written lines.
Link to archive with information about the authors of the quotes, name of participants handwriting and /or embroidering here.