Bookshop Situation Series: Alexander Höglund SUBSTANCE

Inspired by Alexander Höglund’s childhood memories of the comforting sounds of dissolving tablets, to pharmacognosy, anti-pain meditation, and environmental noise awareness, Index presents this performative release by Höglund and collaborators as part of the Bookshop Situation Series.

The record, Substance, comprises of ten tracks with recordings of dissolving painkiller tablets, pressed on 12” vinyl. The tracks capture the variations in audio as the tablets dissolve, due to the medicines different chemical properties and such physical designs as size and thickness. The chemical components that we can hear at Substance are: acetylsalicylic acid, caffeine, Isobutylphenyl, propanoic acid, C-vitamin and paracetamol in several commercial forms and compositions. The evening will feature additional interventions by artists Vid Edda (US/DK) and Sebastian Rozenberg. (SE)

Alexander Höglund is a Swedish artist working in a variety of media most notably in video and sound art. Höglund holds a Bachelor degree in Fine Arts from Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and a Master of Fine Arts from Konstfack in Stockholm. Höglund is also a co-founder and director of the architecture studio Mayer and Höglund and a co-founder of the independent art community PLX.

The Bookshop Situation Series at Index is based on events to present books, magazines, records and other artistic formats. The bookshop situation is a way to test content, to share it, to distribute it, offering situations to be part of a community of experimental producers and users.