Henrik Strömberg and Jens Soneryd – object amnesic: a compost manifesto (signed)

Blow Up Press 2021

Winner of the 2020 BUP Book Award

Signed by Henrik Strömberg

Henrik Strömberg (artist) and Jens Soneryd (writer) started their joint project The Compost in 2016. For them, the compost is a point of departure to explore alternative ways of being in the world, alternative practices of doing, thinking, sensing, seeing, and understanding. With “alternative ways of being in the world” they refer to perspectives that challenge the instrumental and reductionist ones that are predominant today, which provide a technocratic attitude towards the world, its objects, structures and societal institutions, but also toward its humans and other living beings, its nature, language and art.

According to the technocratic attitude, art works are means for communicating simple messages or for performing certain functions, and they are valued according to their potential of doing so – the aim of the work of art is to deliver certain measurable results that are decided in advance. Thus, contemporary art is part of the creative economy, it is attuned to the logic of advertising, design, and tech companies.