6. Sju

ARTIST: Mats Caldeborg (1999)
TECHNIQUE: Galvanized pipe scaffolding made of steel and zink

“I have dug up seven figures from an Egyptian grave. Now they sit here on the edge of perhaps the greatest industrial museum in Sweden contemplating all these days. All this oblivion, all this time…” These are Mats Caldeborg´s own words about his work entitled Seven. The work might of course be related to the Seven Deadly Sins. Perhaps the seven monkeys look down upon us while we make mistakes every day. Caldeborg´s work might also relate to the worry inherent in Mount Kvarntorp. At the same time he ties together the Egyptian pyramids with the mount as a monument of human labor.

Mats Caldeborg is the sculptor who has created Seven. He was born in 1950 and lives at Järnäsklubb in the coastland of Västerbotten. Together with his wife Katrin he is managing The Kvarken Straits Art Hall. He has been awarded numerous scholarships, for example the long-term scholarship from the Artists´ Board. His art can be found in county councils, municipalities, art collections and museums, such as The Museum of Modern Art.

Caldeborg´s work of art entitled Seven consists of galvanized pipe scaffolding made of steel and zink where the seven monkeys sit each on a top. Perhaps the seven monkeys are contemplating the passing of time as well as nature´s slow reclaiming of the mount – or else it may be an image of human existence. Is it possible for us to look forward and to change the course of history, and if that is the case, how do we do that? Caldeborg´s work touches on a deep-going moral philosophical problem that man has always struggled with. The monkeys are doomed to passivity –to see but unable to act – to pretend as if they have not seen, although they have done so. Is that something we can live with? This art work evokes the question of acting and taking on responsibility. Perhaps art works such as Seven make us realize our own role in history – in other words we are the ones who write it down.

The monkeys may as a result be seen as a metaphor for the historically passive human being- we also sit there covering our faces with our hands. The seven monkeys at the edge of the mount are looking at the rising sun. Day in and day out they see how nature changes, in daylight or the darkness of night, spring, summer, winter and fall. Perhaps they expect us to do something.

In this way Caldeborg connects fantasy and reality in his art work with subtle intuition and tenderness that touch us all. In some way the figures assume life as they slightly open the door to a world where we cannot even imagine what is going on. Thus we are sent off to the borderland between fantasy and reality.