Original artwork description:

My works are not painted but cast in oak panels using standard wall filler.

This work is titled after a cognitive bias about our problem dealing with the perception of contradictory information. For example, refusing to react to a disaster we have never encountered. Another fun example is the IKEA effect, which means that we tend to overestimate the value of things we have put an effort into ourselves.

Social Engineering
The works in the series feature stone imprints and a composition made with rulers and/or compasses, the instruments used by architects and engineers to divide space. The term social engineering has mainly been used to describe how socialist states tried to indoctrinate their citizens. However, it also played an integral part in constructing the Scandinavian welfare society in the 20th century. Extensive housing projects and health, education, and pension system reforms reshaped how people lived and viewed themselves. Introducing childcare and maternity care changed family structures and views on gender and identity. The period coincides with modernism in art and architecture, which the series references.

In recent years, the term has become relevant in digital security, political campaigns, public relations and similar fields that seek to influence individual decision-making by exploiting our cognitive biases. These are examples of areas where our judgement systematically deviates from a rational basis. But at the same time, they can be understood as descriptions of different aspects of human nature: stubborn, impulsive, emotional, safety-oriented, unforgiving, etc. They make us vulnerable and manipulable, but we lose our character and uniqueness without them.
All works in the series are titled after cognitive biases in belief formation, decision-making and human behaviour.

Materials used:

Filler on board, oak panel

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