ULRIKA ERDES
	AMBIVALENCE
	As you open the door to the exhibiting area, smoke pours out through the opening. The smoke makes it difficult to breathe properly, and the sight is at first very limited. The smell of cigarette smoke and old ashtrays are overwhelming. A women sits quietly on a bench. She smokes cigarette after cigarette. The smoke from her cigarette immediately integrates with and disappeares within the thick smoke which is filling the room. As you turn around, photos emerge one the rear wall. The photos are clear, beatiful and has an air of romance to them. After a while, however, you realize that their subject might not be that charming. Butts, nicotin and filters, that's what the pictures display.
	Ambivalence is a work touching upon the mixed feelings many of us have towards smoking, but in a wider perspective there lurks the ambivalence between beauty and the treacherous.
	I smoked constantly during opening hours and had planned to make a video during the exhibition, to capture the air of the performance. It was supposed to be of me smoking heavily for quite some time, but, as you can see below, it came to an abrupt end.
	video will shortly be available
	Photos by Lisa Agnbäck.
	ulrikaerdes.se