A fertile subject for offensive talk (2024)
Video installation. Exhibited in c4 projects, Copenhagen, Denmark.
A fertile subject for offensive talk is based on the “sea monk” creature, which was caught on the coast of Zealand in 1546. Historical records say that the fishermen thought they had pulled a monk with a fish body out of the sea. Some thought it was a priest from a “sea people” – a species of “merman”. In all likelihood, it was in fact a ten-armed octopus of a scale never seen before. When the king at the time, Christian III, heard about it, he ordered that the “disgusting” creature should be buried as soon as possible, so that it would not incite offensive talk in public. In this way the priest from the sea was given an honorable burial. With this starting point, A fertile subject for offensive talk reflects the shadow sides of the public and how that which stands outside is considered dangerous.
Excerpt, A fertile subject for offensive talk. Original: 5 min, loop.
The exhibition is part of c4 project‘s exhibition program The Kinship Programme. The program takes its point of departure in the eco-feminist thinker Donna Haraway, focusing on the structural, political, poetic and critical potentials of a community.
Excerpts of the exhibition text, written by author Adam Drewes:
„Mark told me that he once worked on a boat in North Zealand. While at work, he spent a lot of time with the boat‘s captain. It was there that he heard the story of the Sea Monk for the first time, which was caught in the Øresund off the coast of Zealand in 1546.
Legend has it that one day local fishermen pulled up a strange creature from the bottom of the sea. Some of the fishermen believed that it was the priest of a sea people, while others thought it was a fish wearing a monk‘s cloak. It gesticulated so fancifully when they freed it from the net. King Christian III then ordered that the Sea Monk should be buried to not give rise to unpleasant talk about it.
What do we do when we encounter the fantastic? What do we do when we are faced with something that challenges existing reality? Could an unknown religion from the bottom of the sea threaten a king‘s power? What kind of life was hidden beneath the surface? What did they worship down in the dark green waters? Was it necessary for the survival of society to bury the Sea Monk? Can societal and communal order only remain if we remove that which challenges consensus? Or is it only because we challenge consensus that community and society can last?
The rumor about the Sea Monk spreads quickly throughout Europe, and the Holy German-Roman Emperor Charles V becomes so fascinated that he writes Christian III and asks him to bring the Sea Monk to him. King Christian III sends his men into the forest to dig up the Sea Monk, but when they open the tomb, it is empty.“
Installation view, c4 projects. Photo: Rikke Ehlers Nilsson.
Installation view, c4 projects. Photo: Rikke Ehlers Nilsson.
Installation view, c4 projects. Photo: Rikke Ehlers Nilsson.
Installation view, c4 projects. Photo: Rikke Ehlers Nilsson.
Installation view, c4 projects. Photo: Rikke Ehlers Nilsson.
Installation view, c4 projects. Photo: Rikke Ehlers Nilsson.
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