Hasta La Ideas

Swedish artist Michael Johansson creates art from objects, turning carefully-curated cast-offs into piles of potentiality. Here we look at some of his earlier work, derived from the secondhand markets he scours. “I am fascinated by flea markets,” he writes. “The rules compelling me in selecting things at flea markets are also central to my art practise.”

Engaging directly with these objects, manipulating them, juxtaposing them against each other or representing them in a new context is my method of work. Through out my different explorations of the potentials of my collection of found and acquired things, one has been to free objects from their function. By forcing these objects into contexts in which their functional qualities are put into opposition with their field of application, the objects are stripped of their meaning for existence. “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother”, 2005, is one example. The stack of bathroom scales balancing on top of each other, puts measuring weight as the original purpose of a scale in connection with the force of gravity and cancels out the function.

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