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Charlotte Åbergh is an artist who operates using the medium of the video. She lives and works in Stockholm. Her oeuvre has been exhibited in Sweden, Great Britain, and Denmark. She is currently preparing her latest exhibition with the working title "Love Theme," which will be featured at Gävle Konstcentrum in March 2000.

Eva-Lotta Holm Flach is a substitute lecturer in art theory at Konsthögskolan (University College of Arts, Craft, Design, and Art Education) in Stockholm. She holds a Masters degree in art history, is active at Galleri Flach, and is the editor of Material.

Eva-Lotta Holm Flach (E-L): In the 1996 "Bunny Mix" installation at galleri Tre, you had some cute but rather wimpy bunny suits made up for men. A video shows the gallery owners and other men acting "normally" in these suits, making them seem both comical and yet rather pathetic. In addition to this video, at the vernissage you and some friends wandered around in the outfits, almost like showgirls. Superficially, this work doesn´t seem to be particularly difficult to interpret, but what were your own thoughts?

Charlotte Åbergh (CÅ): I´ve always been fascinated by clothes and fashion, and what lies behind the fashion phenomenon. Not least, I´m particularly interested in the sense of belonging to a group that fashion creates. This lies at the heart of "Bunny Mix," but of course there is also the issue of the suit indicating gender affiliation. Indeed, the bunny is a rather timid character (which for some reason has been linked to femininity), but at the same time I have also chosen to develop a model in which the bunny is presented as rather humorous. I chose to make the suits in denim to accentuate a youth culture or a prevailing mainstream ideal. In other words, it is the question of letting different worlds and dimensions break in simultaneously, which hopefully nourishes an emotion that is absurd and not so obvious. Naturally, there is also a gender-critical aspect that is important to bear in mind, but equally so is the issue of bringing out absurdity.

E-L: Yes, though the gender-critical dimension is easy to understand, the humorous side is at least of equal importance. The men´s attitudes and movements in these suits almost impart a sense of unreality. The stylistic differences between the genders become so obvious. But taking the fashion aspect as a starting point, what does fashion mean to you?

C. : For me, it´s probably mainly something pleasurable, particularly in a kind of flipped-out sense. I think about what the eighteenth century must have been like, with all those extraordinary outfits and extravagances. But the disco and glitter fashion of the 1970s also holds a strong fascination for me; it must be rooted in the human need of wanting something more, of getting completely decked out. In contrast, today´s "haute couture" does not feel nearly as exciting, and I feel that trends such as "heroin chic" are purely negative.

E-L: How do you regard the work of artists like Vanessa Beecroft, who has also brought up aspects of the fashion industry, even if her focus is more on the models themselves and their almost unreal physicality?

C. Å: I can feel a certain kinship, even though I was actually unaware of her work when I started making my things. In general I probably work more playfully, and feel a greater kinship with Marie-Louise Ekman and the manner in which she creates an absurd mood and humor in her work. I share her interest in eighteenth century theaters, the décor and the scenographic tableaux.

E-L: As in "Bunny Mix," in several of your other creations you let people walk into the work and get personally involved with the aid of your suits. At Kulturhuset 1997 in "Yes," people got to put on outfits and dance to disco music.

C. Å: That´s right, and in the video recording you can see how some people really get into it. In "The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes," which was shown as part of Konstbordellen (The Art Brothel) during Cultural Capital year Œ98, people could come in and pay to dress up in large, cumbersome tomato costumes. After that they got to look at an awful movie from the 1970s that gave the title to the work. When you come down to it, the experience must have been rather uncomfortable for the observer. The interactive dimension in these contexts has played an important role, particularly by stimulating interest in people who otherwise do not react to or have no interest in contemporary art. At the same time, you can´t deny the fact that this has become a trend during the 1990s, which I have actually started to tire of myself.

E-L: What is your relationship to the recent "reality" discussion?

C. Å: In my case it is probably more a question of depicting different types of realities, as a vehicle for emphasizing the absurd and the incomprehensible in life. I might question whether it is truly possible to depict "reality" in the simple terms in which it is described in the debate. So far I have never worked like Elin Wickström, for example, who more tangibly intervenes in true events. This does not mean that I am against this approach. Indeed, my suits function as a type of link to what can be referred to as the observer´s reality, but that isn´t the main point. Recently I´ve started writing scripts whose meaning I hardly understand myself. This is somewhat more incomprehensible than my previous work. In this context, video is the perfect medium, since it allows me to express the incomprehensibilities of life rather than its intelligibilities.

E-L: In the video "My Love has got a Gun," which was shown at Bildhuset in 1998, the impression, as you say, is significantly more abstract and difficult to understand. It shows a struggle between a woman, a gun, and a person who is not visible to the observer. The picture is fragmented, and both the woman and the gun are shiny and gleam like gold. The light and framing of the camera angle emphasize the abstract structure of the picture. What is this about?

C.Å: The intention is to depict a fight between a man and a woman, even though the man never appears in the picture. He functions as a device, or a type of façade. The gold serves as a type of mythological framing, and indicates the superficiality. There is no natural humanity here. Rather, it is about people extracted from the fashion pages, who in turn have acquired a sort of life. This life is characterized by their coolness and isolation, while at the same time, the woman´s outbreak and struggle indicate a will to break through this perfect isolation.

E-L: Why do you believe that this cold, impenetrable surface, which sets the tone in fashion advertising - and which is criticized for being just this - lives on?

C. Å: I believe that it is related to mythology, and our constant desire to defeat death. The hunt for the young and immortal continues constantly. But perhaps this is a modern myth; previously, maybe the concept of age was not so loaded and despised? This is the type of modern myth and stereotype that I try to work with, as well as the emotion that appears to be ingrained in us, making us actually want to do what others do, and be what others are. Even if we criticize it, I think everyone today tries to look as young and perfect as possible.

E-L: Is this the theme that is followed up in the video "This time it looks like love is here to stay" (1999), which is being shown at IASPIS?

C. Å: Here I would like to emphasize the sense of glamour even more clearly. The title itself is taken from a Barry White song, which I see as a symbol for the exclusive disco culture. The entire disco trend was also very narcissistic. It was a time when everything was wild, with people embracing luxury, glitter, and superficiality. Sometimes I can actually feel a certain charm in that decadent world; which also contained a sense of breaking limits and the unrestrained. Perhaps there was more room for flipped-out characters. In the video a woman commits suicide; for me this symbolizes the ability to dare to go all the way and not stop; to flip out, kill yourself with drugs, or behave without any inhibitions... I have chosen a dominating white color in this film, symbolizing not only death, but also innocence and something equally dangerous. The white color which is at the same time pure and poisonous.

E-L: In the first video "Vacuum Clean Love" (1995), where a woman lets herself be vacuumed in a sort of erotic yet at the same time perfectionistic ritual, the color pink dominates. Was the intention to find an external form that would unite the films in a trilogy present from the very beginning?

C.Å: Not directly, but one film led to the next. In the latter I was rather tired of the woman and quite simply wanted to kill her. But now we will see whether she might just reappear anyway.

E-L: The traditionally described passive woman is the one who is constantly active in your creations. Is this a self-portrait?

C.Å: To some extent all art is a type of self-portrait. But of course, the foundation is there. It is about me, yet it is not. I have never successfully fit into the traditional female role, and perhaps in the final analysis it is this role that women are revolting against.

E-L: Has anyone ever criticized your work; you know, like saying that it overemphasizes the superficial and luxury and all that?

C.Å: Very little; some people have said that I am too aggressive and perhaps too similar to Cindy Sherman. But people probably don´t say much about what they don´t like... At the same time, ethical expression is an important part of the work for me. I want to focus on the ethical dimension, which in my opinion has become undervalued in the 1990s. This is not to say that I want to bind myself to this forever, but for now I am interested in the moment frozen in time, preferably the vague and abstract ­ what can be experienced as aesthetically appealing. We will have to wait and see what will happen in the future.

E-L: Are there any artists that you particularly admire?

C.Å: Apart from those whom I have already mentioned, I can really appreciate an artist like Janine Antoni, as well as Stig Sjölund, of course.

E-L: What irritates you in art?

C.Å:Social art without content. Just standing there and frying meatballs is not for me.

Translation by Susan Larson