Kreativa metoder för att påverka en befolkning (Creative methods to influence a population)

As part of the public program for LIBERATION RADIO, Kreativa metoder för att påverka en befolkning (Creative methods to influence a population), a presentation by Carl Johan Erikson and Björn Larsson.

Index presents Kreativa metoder för att påverka en befolkning (Creative methods to influence a population), a talk by Carl Johan Erikson and Björn Larsson.

Stemming from their longtime investigations into the military state apparatus, this particular presentation looks into the propaganda carried out by Försvarmakten (the Swedish Armed Forces), mainly through The Operational Communications Unit, which is defined on SAF’s website as “a military strategic unit that, through communications services and psychological operations, analyzes and influences the behaviors and attitudes of various target groups.”

In 2022-23, the Swedish Armed Forces put forth the advertising campaign Dina styrkor gör oss starkare in Sweden. The target group was young women and the campaign was very prominent in public space during the period.

At Index Eriksson and Larsson will do a performative reading and analysis of the pitch-material from the ad agency responsible for the advertising campaign. The conceptual methods of the artists have been to document the campaign in public space and documents obtained through the freedom of information act, try to understand and at the same time problematize a complex contemporary era.

This presentation is part of Carl Johan Erikson and Björn Larsson’s joint and long-standing project Vägra Döda, which explores existential issues linked to military service and the relationship between state and individual.