Therese Johansson
ALONE TOGETHER

The idea for my project came from the time when I lived in Ålidhem, which coincided with a period when I watched a great deal of television. On one occasion I got so tired of myself that I thought I should turn the television towards the window to interact in some way with other people. I made a sketch and put it aside. I took the sketch out for this project.

Description of the work: an installation where television sets are put into the windows on one side of a building. What the people inside the room are looking at is visible to passers-by. The block of flats where I decided to find participants was Fysikgränd 13, using all rooms with windows towards the cycle path. After several meetings with the residents I had 12 participants who agreed to have an extra TV in their window for a week; the TV would be connected to their own and show the same thing they were watching. The work focuses on questions concerning people’s habits and television use, the boundary between the private and the public, regarding both art and society in general. Twelve participants seemed a good number and on Tuesday evening when all the TV sets were on at the same time, the work gave the visual impression I had hoped for. I never saw the artwork dead as every time I passed by there were always one or two TV sets on.

The first part of the realization of the project consisted of a great deal of thinking, which then went into a practical phase with many people involved and many things that had to function. Now, in retrospect, I suspect I had enormous luck because everything went well. There was much coming and going and carrying, late nights and a lot of planning. While constructing the installation I almost lost sight of the kernel of my idea, its content and meaning. I wanted the work to give a visual experience that at the same time would prompt various thoughts, both inside and outside the building. When the installation was in place and functioning by itself I felt both empty and satisfied. Many thanks to the twelve participants and everyone who helped out.