Europa / 2016
The work Europa consists of three parts: one photographic print, one installation made out of wooden rulers, and the text EUROPA surrounded by gold. The work takes its starting point in the harbor as a place of migration, traveling and trade but also Europe as an idea. Runo Lagomarsino’s interest lies in the socially agreed languages and conception of reality through which we filter and value the world. One example of this is the metric measure as an instrument for categorizing and dividing. Another example is the constructed borders of the world map and the way they control the view of the world. The gold often recurring in the work of Runo Lagomarsino refers to the colonial history of Europe and the story of El Dorado which in the 15th century brought expeditions to South America in search of fortunes.