He had run out of ideas and was running out of time. So he turned his problems into art
Persson has work held in most of our major galleries as well as the Auckland Art Gallery and Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This month, his latest exhibition, Black Swans, opened at Anna Schwartz Gallery – and all of the works come from having absolutely no ideas, he says.
'I'd been out of the studio for a while ... and I'd just lost the rhythm,' he explains. 'For a couple of weeks I had literally no ideas... I just couldn't see it. And then I thought, why don't I make work about having no ideas – deal with the problem.'
As he gazed at Post-it notes stuck on the wall – featuring scribbled lines from texts that resonated with him – he realised he was not the first to face this predicament. Having read about 'black swan events' recently, and having painted swans in the past, he decided to get to work and combine the two.
Originally used to describe an impossible event – prior to 1697, no European knew black swans existed – the term now refers to a highly improbable event that once it occurs, seems inevitable. Coined in the context of financial markets by US-based former options trader Nassim Taleb in 2007, the term 'black swan event' now has a broader cultural meaning.
Persson's series takes quotes from some of our greatest artistic minds and makes them spout from the mouths of black swans. Some of the lines are amusing, some are poignant; all of them ring true.
'Once it happened, it came together rather quickly,' he says. 'I had this one little painting which was an abstract I had done in the '90s, that became the background. I thought about that heraldic space where animals talk, those medieval balloons.'
Though most of the paintings were well underway before the second election of Donald Trump, as every day brings new black swan events, the works feel particularly prescient.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
7 hours ago
- Perth Now
Aussies horrified at ‘memory foam bread' TikTok trend
A new social media trend involving squishing down bread only to watch it bounce back into its original form has left Aussies in disbelief. Videos posted on TikTok have revealed the disturbing truth behind bread in the US, which reforms itself 'like memory foam' due to excessive additives. In one TikTok video, which has more than three million views, an American woman shares a clip of her folding a slice of bread into the palm of her hand to test the theory that the bread will expand into its original form. 'There it goes, it literally starts unfolding, that is crazy to me,' she says as the bread unravels. The videos caught the attention of Aussies, who have flooded the videos with comments; claiming the bread in the US must be different from the bread in Australia. If you'd like to view this content, please adjust your . To find out more about how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Guide. 'In Australia, when you spread Nutella on the slice you rip a hole in it,' wrote one. 'In Australia, when you put the bread in the shopping bag at the checkout, it always goes on top because once it's squished, it's forever squished,' said another. The now-viral trend has also sparked backlash from Aussie influencers who tested the bread-squishing trend themselves, demonstrating that Australian bread would stay squashed when pressed. A US influencer has shown the disturbing reality of bread reforming after being squished. Credit: TikTok One Aussie shared a video of her squishing a white slice of bread to see if it 'bounces back.' 'Hey America . . . I notice you've got some very different bread to what the rest of the world has, or at least Australia,' she says. After pressing the slice of bread into a ball she drops it on the counter in front of her to show it's still squished. 'That's normal bread,' she states at the end of the video. If you'd like to view this content, please adjust your . To find out more about how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Guide. The debate has grown into a international one; European's have been chiming in on the argument, with one influencer showing that even shop bought Italian sliced bread unravels. 'As you can see this high quality European Italian bread also acts like memory foam,' she explains while watching a slice of bread bounce back. Commenters on the video disputed that the bread was from Italy and made claims about bread from other countries. 'That's not Italian bread!!!!' wrote one. 'African bread never ever bounces back,' said another. If you'd like to view this content, please adjust your . To find out more about how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Guide. Aside from the videos, the differentiating factor that may divide American sliced bread from other countries is what it's composed of. American bread is typically made using five food additives: Azodicarbonamide (whitening and dough conditioner), Potassium bromate and iodate (rising agents), BHA and BHT (preservatives). Australia and many other countries have imposed strict bans on Azodicarbonamide, Potassium bromate and iodate, which have been linked to cancer and asthma – but they are still allowed to be used in US food products. However, wherever it's made, packaged mass-produced sliced bread have been found to be an ultra processed food by academics. 'UPF has a long, formal scientific definition, but it can be boiled down to this: if it's wrapped in plastic and has at least one ingredient that you wouldn't usually find in a standard home kitchen, it's UPF,' says Dr Chris van Tulleken in his book.
Sydney Morning Herald
10 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Kim Kardashian's underwear brand sets its sights on your face
Kim Kardashian's shapewear and underwear brand Skims has moved from muffin tops and bulging bellies to above the neckline, crossing the final frontier with a sculpting fabric face mask targeting the jawline. Released on Tuesday, the $88 mask has already sold out and has a waiting list on the Skims website. The cost of aiming for firmer features is greater than money. The in-demand product, with velcro straps at the top of the head and nape, resembles a post-surgery mask, and has earned comparisons with Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs on social media. 'We've been doing shapewear for a really long time, and now we're going to offer amazing face shapewear, which is just such a necessity,' Kardashian said in an Instagram video. 'You can see that it just snatches your chinny chin chin with the jaw, and it's super comfortable to wear at night or just around the house.' The item is marketed on the company's social media as 'infused with collagen yarns for ultra-soft jaw support' and 'a must-have addition to your nightly routine'. However, Sydney-based plastic surgeon Dr Mark Kohout suggests customers manage any expectations of waking up contoured and camera ready. 'The facial shapewear is analogous to elastic waist trainers,' Kohout says. 'The idea is that the elastic fabric supports your tissues and makes them less susceptible to sagging from the effects of gravity. The downside is that to have any appreciable effect, you would have to wear them around the clock for months or years.' 'The garment does not change the structure of the skin, nor does it tighten the collagen or elastin fibres in your skin. This may make it of limited practicality and effectiveness.'
The Age
10 hours ago
- The Age
Kim Kardashian's underwear brand sets its sights on your face
Kim Kardashian's shapewear and underwear brand Skims has moved from muffin tops and bulging bellies to above the neckline, crossing the final frontier with a sculpting fabric face mask targeting the jawline. Released on Tuesday, the $88 mask has already sold out and has a waiting list on the Skims website. The cost of aiming for firmer features is greater than money. The in-demand product, with velcro straps at the top of the head and nape, resembles a post-surgery mask, and has earned comparisons with Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs on social media. 'We've been doing shapewear for a really long time, and now we're going to offer amazing face shapewear, which is just such a necessity,' Kardashian said in an Instagram video. 'You can see that it just snatches your chinny chin chin with the jaw, and it's super comfortable to wear at night or just around the house.' The item is marketed on the company's social media as 'infused with collagen yarns for ultra-soft jaw support' and 'a must-have addition to your nightly routine'. However, Sydney-based plastic surgeon Dr Mark Kohout suggests customers manage any expectations of waking up contoured and camera ready. 'The facial shapewear is analogous to elastic waist trainers,' Kohout says. 'The idea is that the elastic fabric supports your tissues and makes them less susceptible to sagging from the effects of gravity. The downside is that to have any appreciable effect, you would have to wear them around the clock for months or years.' 'The garment does not change the structure of the skin, nor does it tighten the collagen or elastin fibres in your skin. This may make it of limited practicality and effectiveness.'
