Ann-Sofi Siden

Ann-Sofi Siden's artistic explorations revolve around various social phenomena of a historical, medical or psychological nature. The boundary between science, society and man's inner soul, are under scrutiny. With questions about vulnerability, control, violence and vigilance, Ann-Sofi Siden unravels the threads of the history of the human psyche in extensive film installations. But Ann-Sofi Siden's primary preoccupation is not with psychology, mental illness or the spectacular, but with something infinitely more universal and profoundly more human. She gently outlines the social behaviours, exoticising and exclusion mechanisms that characterise western history. One of her more recent works - 3 mph, from 2003 - was filmed during a 25-day ride on horseback she undertook in Texas. The journey starts in San Antonio and ends at the NASA space research centre in Houston. The 35-minute panorama film installation cuts through a myriad of social and cultural strata in contemporary Texas. The book, which is published in connection with a major retrospective at Moderna Museet in Stockholm, is the first general review of Siden's complete work from 1990 to today. Compiled in close co-operation with the artist, it is the definitive guide to Siden's career. A comprehensive essay by curator Cecilia Widenheim provides an in-depth look at the background to Siden's projects. A conversation between the artist and German art critic and curator Robert Fleck, describes her work process with Warte mall, an 18 channel video installation focusing the trafficking on the Czech-German border.