One of the key figures of the design and architecture program, part of the so called Folkhemmet, that transformed everyday life in Swedish society from the early 30´s onwards, was the art historian Gregor Paulsson (1889-1977). He saw an immediate connection between an objects’ design language and society where the “democratization of form should be the very form of democracy” – a quote part of the sound piece from the exhibition The Phantom Collection.

This installation made in collaboration with Birger Lipinski for Södertalje Konsthall, was composed of various displays; screens and projections with abstract, moving and colourful shades that met the visitor upon entering the exhibition space. The viewer only discovered on the backside of the displays that the large multi-coloured screens were in fact projections of backlit shelves filled with glass and ceramics – a collection of Swedish design objects from the last 100 years made into a sort of shadow play.

The sound piece with the voice of a fictive collector, together with the objects and their shadows, challenge our perception about what we see or how we understand a history retold of design politics in society from the 30´s up until our days.

Photo: Jean-Baptiste Béranger, Laercio Redondo