Hitchhiking General
2008
Performance
Commisioned by Malmö Konsthall
2008
Performance
Commisioned by Malmö Konsthall
As a part of the exhibition Auto-Stop, the staff members of Malmö Konsthall hitchhiked with artworks, performed the instructions of the artists, handed ou texts, or simply travelled with the artists in the southern region of Sweden. Within this framework, Öğüt’s project was performed by Olof Olsson, one of the hitch-
hiking Konsthall staff. Olsson wore the standard uniform of a General in the Swedish Army and hitchhiked for two days holding two car flags. In this fashion,
the hitchhiker was no longer just a stranger who needed to be transported from one place to another. He appeared as an impossible-to-ignore image, a symbol of sovereign power to those passing by. Once offered a ride, he asked that his flags be placed on the front of the car to temporary transform it into an official vehicle during his journey. As the General got in and out of different cars, the official power he represented was displaced with each vehicle.
hiking Konsthall staff. Olsson wore the standard uniform of a General in the Swedish Army and hitchhiked for two days holding two car flags. In this fashion,
the hitchhiker was no longer just a stranger who needed to be transported from one place to another. He appeared as an impossible-to-ignore image, a symbol of sovereign power to those passing by. Once offered a ride, he asked that his flags be placed on the front of the car to temporary transform it into an official vehicle during his journey. As the General got in and out of different cars, the official power he represented was displaced with each vehicle.
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