Lost and found

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	On Saturday June 2nd 2012 at 2 P.M., I embarked on a walk between my studio in Sweden and an exhibition space in northern Norway. The length of the trek was approximately 1200 km (745 miles) and it took me 48 days to traverse the total distance. I was carrying a museum podium with me for the journey’s duration (the podium measures 45x45x120cm [16x16x50 inches]). Every morning before setting out, I painted the podium white with an oil-based paint. As I hiked through the forests and over the mountains, the tacky paint attracted insects that inevitably stuck to the podium’s façade. Dirt, pollen and other materials from nature also became stuck to it. Over the course of the project there were almost 50 coats of paint applied to the podium; each layer hosts a number of different insect species and other specimens from nature. The podium was exhibited with 10 international artists in the show Odor Water Limo that opened on August 4th 2012. More information about the show can be found here. This project is, to an extensive degree, related to my interest in nature and natural history museums. In most of my recent work I play with ideas on how science and research are displayed in museums. The inexhaustible presence of death and dead matter in a natural history museum inspires many of my works. Lost and Found brings the museum out into nature to collect species that will be stored like fossils in the podium’s many layers of paint. The podium that I carried was custom built. It held all of the equipment that was needed for this venture. When I traveled on trails I carried the podium on my back with shoulder straps that were attached to it. When I was treading on dirt roads I attached wheels and a handle that made it possible for me to push the podium along.

	5min. video below
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	ROUTE Click on the map above to open a large map in a new window.		PRESS ABOUT LOST AND FOUND (Swedish and Norwegian only) Gefle Dagblad May 2 Upsala Nya Tidning June 1 Hudiksvalls Tidning June 12 Sundsvalls Tidning June 16 Västerbottens-Kuriren July 5 Helgeland Arbeiderblad July 5 Helgeland Arbeiderblad July 20











	June 2nd 2012, take off! Some very rainy days will follow me right from the start. Thank you to all the friends and colleagues that came for the launch of my journey! In this photo: Hanna Paradis, Marcus Bohm, Lars Brunström, Fredrik Strid, Jenny Yurshansky, Lotta Smed, Anna Ekman, Lucia Gustavsson, Mattias Idunger, Trygve Luktvasslimo and all of the kids.



	Explaining the project.		All of the equipment that goes into the podium.



			Trying out the shoulder straps.



	Lars quality controls the tent.



	Franka supervises painting the first coat on the podium.		Ready to leave.



	A last minute fix. Changing out the raincoat for one that actually keeps me dry.		Farewell!



	The first dirt road was really slow and wet.		I was happy to find this shed to sleep in on the first night.



	Night 2: Still raining.		On the third day I proceeded with the first treatment to heal my feet.



	Just south of Ockelbo the sun was waiting for me.		First visible sunset.



	Dragonfly stuck to the podium.		Drying socks and boots.



	Here I am walking between Långbo and Bollnäs in Hälsingland. Very beautiful landscape.



		Painting the podium.







		This is the classic road "Kalvstigen" between Järvsö and Delsbo.







Evening walk.



After 10 days of walking this was my first hostel. It was inexpensive and it felt really good to do laundry and sleep in a bed.		The hostel's stage for performances. Pretty advanced.







Here I am on the route from Delsbo to Hassela, quite a lot of "ups" and downs" so to speak.		A "tjärn". (lake)



Really nice days in these forests. Very remote and silent without any cars around for days.



		Swimming spot right before Sundsvall.



Time to buy more paint and also some spare wheels.		It wasn't always easy to find good spots for the tent. Morning photo.



Fly stuck in the wet paint.



Ant.		Having a break close to Härnösand.







		The handle broke and this is a quick fix.



		"Högakustenbron" this bridge was a nightmare to cross. The traffic was speedy and I got vertigo looking up, as well as looking down, from it.







Höga Kusten, Ångermanland county.		This kind of problem lingered with me through the whole journey...



...as well as did these (mosquito bites).		My private little island.



Dinner.		Sleep.



Another bridge that I had to cross.		It is ironic that the first time I ordered coffee, they only had instant coffee, the same stuff I was drinking every day...but the cookie tasted really good.



Midsummer eve 2012.



Lunch break.		And the final fix of the handle.



This is what my food storage typically looked like, this would probably last for 4 days and weigh up to 4 kilos.



Here. I am in the city of Örnsköldsvik and the hostel "Vindarnas Hus." This was an important stop because up to this point I had walked half of the route with almost 4 weeks and 600km worth of walking behind me.



Now I am leaving the coastline and walking northwest towards Norway. This is between Arnäs and Långviksmon.		Friends along the road.



The axle for the wheels was getting worn out.



		A new type of candy for me. Yum.



Toward Lappland.		Heading up to Fredrika, a silent and beautiful evening.



This was pretty creepy. In the middle of nowhere, at twilight and right where I planned to put up the tent, this doll was hanging on a pole.		I did not sleep so well that night.



These are mosquitoes stuck in between the tent and the rain fly.		Lunchtime.



I have some weeks in the backcountry ahead of me.



In this corner of the world there are lots of mosquitoes.



Fredrika hotel, my birthday. 3 weeks to go.



		Now it is time to replace the wheels.



Tallsjön, Lappland.



Rain all of a sudden.







		A pizza restaurant in Åsele.



		This was such a pleasant surprise. My friend and colleague Björn Ohlson saw me from the car by chance when he was on his holiday trip to the mountains.



		A very nice man let me use one of his houses and sleep there. This is south of Vilhelmina.











A "grillkåta" along the way.



This was an amazing museum in Torvsjö. It held a complicated system of old-school water powered mills, a saw house, a planer, and more. This is the last well-preserved system like this in Sweden that still is running and I can really recommend a visit.		One of the mill houses.



		The planer.



A reindeer that kept me company for a while.



Tons of mosquitoes, I was happy to have had this hood. Here it makes me look a bit like a certain performance friend of mine.



Here the locals put out a really nice table for people passing to take a break at. So nice.		My classic lunch. Bulgur with tuna. Yum.



Vilhelmina and Kyrkbyn where I stayed over.		I made myself the food that I had been dreaming of: A classic herring plate with a beer.



The curator Trygve came to walk for a day with me. Before we took off from Vilhelmina, I took him to a place where I knew we could get a decent cup of coffee. We spent a good hour at the local weaving house learning a lot about the local patterns and of course enjoying tons of coffee, cookies, and cakes.		The daily layer of paint.



		Trygve was not so happy about the mosquitoes.



A beautiful evening by lake Malmgomaj.



A pair of minimal road signs saying "Land" and "Forrest."		Entering the mountainous area of Marsfjällen.



Marsfjällen.



Here in the mountais, there are pretty long stretches going straight uphill.







This was one of the of the cutest things. A Dutch biker that I met 24 hours before, left this chocolate bar for me, duct taped onto the bridge in the middle of Lappland.



Well, this was also really nice. Harriet whom I met in Dikanäs (the woman with the camera) was so nice and invited me to come and see when they were baking traditional flat bread at their baking house. I also got a round of bread to go...



		...it tasted really good.



Needed to make a butter knife.		Now I have been walking for awhile and here in Kittelfjäll is the last store in Sweden before I cross into Norway. I will reach the next one 5 days from here.



Mountains.		A really nice evening, I didn't want to stop walking, this is 1 A.M.











Are these bear droppings?



I got too wet after the rain in the mountains and needed to rent a room in Gränssjön, one of the few houses after days of walking.



I still keep my belongings in order.











The roadside bathroom was blown over.



This insect crash-landed into my wet paint.







NORWAY! After more than 5 weeks of walking!



Skardemodalen, now it's downhill for a while.



		One of the cleanest roadside bathroom that I've seen.



Bad weather is approaching, again.



		Lunch in Hattfjelldal.



		Trygve will meet me here in a few hours and guide me over the mountains that you see ahead in the distance. It will prove to not be easy.



Meeting up with Trygve and our helper Sisu.		Camping before the mountain hike.



Right where the mountains meet, behind my podium, is where we will pass through.



But not without obstacles.		This water melted from the ice just a hundred meters upstream and was probably the coldest water that I have ever put my feet in.



Here at the pass, there were lakes and rivers under the snow, it wasn't that much fun walking there.











		On the other side, finally. It will take us 14 hours to complete the crossing.



A few days after the mountain trek I finally reached my goal: Luktvasslimon! YAY I did it!



Here I am walking straight into the exhibition hall.



48 days of walking, loads of paint on the podium, many insects on it and as many mosquito bites on me. I am a very hungry and happy person at this point.



Reunion with my beloved wife Jenny.
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