closeup on milled hands in wood

 

Historically considered the heart of the Swedish home, the fireplace is now regaining popularity again. This time though, it often comes with a built-in heating fan, plastic logs and flaming led lights, or sometimes just as a 12 hour long YouTube video. There is an irony to what these fire places tell us about the Swedish home of today: the rationalization of the home has brought with it a factor of immateriality, a disconnection. What remains when the fireplace’s original physical properties are replaced? A cosy atmosphere and something to gather around, maybe. 

In a crisis that has us working from home, being dependent on modern technologies, we experience this immateriality in a new way. In such a time of isolation, there is an imminent loss of information in the conversion from the 3D-modelled object to the ultimately material version. The gap is reminiscent of the physical sensation of longing for the touch of your dear ones. Allowing the machine to steer the hand and approaching the loss of information has been a method when reflecting on the history of the Swedish home; its stories, heart and craftmanship. 

Ingrid Segring Björklund
ingrid.bjorklund@hotmail.com
@ingrid.segring 

 

wooden fireplace from behind close perspective on fireplace perspective on fireplace from behind front picture on fireplace