Handstyle gardening is a performative palimpsestic form of writing. It’s a process oriented art that unites two of my interests: graffiti and gardening. I use garden sprayers filled with paint to rewrite certain words in public space. This technique allows me to focus on that which is to me the essence of graffiti: the tag. Contrary to full color productions one can’t hide anything in a tag — it is the purest representation of a writer’s skill. As an uninvited guest I sneak into abandoned buildings to practice my handstyle, room by room. To me, such form of writing is important because it shows the process of creation and destruction and the power of rewriting. Rewriting is perhaps a cyclical process, much like gardening. I can write about gardening since I garden through writing. In my practice, the process and the way things are written are more important than what is written. For this series, I wrote ‘GARTNER’, because it’s the character of the gardener which I perform. The process of rewriting is a spiritual journey towards mastery of the rewritten word. To perform the practice of such journey in a capitalist society is a critical act.
A collection of moments from a wet affair with garden sprayers. Writings wanting to melt, to be worn, used, shared, rewritten with sweat by drippy dancers doing a deep dream demo. The frozen state of a water-based practice adopting the language of a paint-indulgent community in order to slip in a note. Playing a game of performance.
As seen at off-site, public and hidden spaces, group and solo exhibitions
2020 - 2025
Photos by Jacky Jaan-Yuan Kuo, Øystein Thorvaldsen, Wørld, Nima Taheri, Qowomo, Alexander Leistiko, Alex Asensi and Norsk Billedhoggerforening
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