A LINE IS A LINE IS
A LINE IS A LINE
Installed at Aarhus Kunsthal at the exhibition Afgang2025.
VIDEO: 03:00 MIN.
Video: 03:00 min
2025
Credit: Mikkel Kaldahl
Credit: Mikkel Kaldahl
Credit: Mikkel Kaldahl
Credit: Mikkel Kaldahl
Credit: Mikkel Kaldahl
- A line is a line, is a line, is a line examines contemporary inequality
- and the exploitation of queuing through observation and theoretical critique.
- This interactive installation, scheduled to be shown at Kunsthal Aarhus
- from April 25 to May 25, 2025, is composed of commercially produced
- queue barriers with printed ribbons.
- The ribbons, stretching from wall to wall, invite spectators
- to navigate through the space. Black-on-white text, drawn from various
- queuing manuals, will be printed on the ribbons. Queuing is a global
- phenomenon. Ubiquitous and unavoidable. People queue for everything:
- toilets, water, new sneakers, gallery openings, visas, airplanes, and more.
- At its core, the system of “first-come, first-served” is designed to ensure
- fairness. Yet the reasons for queuing often expose profound inequities.
- People queue to save lives by accessing food rations, while others push
- and shove for the latest PlayStation. For some, queues are instruments
- of power; for others, they are a symbol of equality. To most, however,
- queuing is simply an annoying waste of time.
- The project interrogates the reasoning behind queuing and its inherent
- contradictions while reflecting on the basic act of waiting in line..
“It thrives on anonymity, where faces blur into a mass of
silent patience or simmering frustration.”
“But no matter how orderly, it is always shadowed by the
potential for chaos, resentment, and collapse.”
“… a manifestation of scarcity and inequality, exposing the
fault lines of resource allocation in society.”
“If the system reaches an equilibrium, the probability vector
is independent of the initial state, erasing all history
of how it started.”
“A great equalizer.”
– examples of quotes printed on the banners.