My project is an artist’s book in Swedish and German. The book was originally a catalogue, so it is an upcycling project. I have, so to speak, turned the book inside out – a bit like in the past, when the collar of an old shirt was cut off, turned around and sewn back on. That is what I have done with this catalogue.
I write and draw in the catalogue using black chalk. The texts grow out of my life in this place: what I experience, what I see, what I dream. These are my own texts, and they become part of the book.
I also meet people here and ask them if they would like to be part of the project. I explain how a small text like this can come about, perhaps consisting of just two sentences. It might be a memory, something they noticed or experienced that day, an encounter with another person, or a situation that touched them.
I then translate these texts into German, just as I translate my own texts into Swedish. I also write the texts given to me by other people in both languages in the book.
On the first day, when I walked to the museum, I noticed a mark on the pavement. It inspired me. In my drawing, I turned the motif upside down and transformed what I had seen into a drawing. Many of the other drawings in the book have come about in a similar way.
The encounters with the people who have given me texts for the book are the most important part for me. I have made these books in other languages too – in languages that I do not speak myself. And the most beautiful part is working with people from the neighbourhood, people I did not know before and perhaps will never meet again. And yet they become part of my projects.
Lilo C. Karsten
Skövde, 15 September 2026
