Out in the field.

We’ve been out in the field, or, rather, plodded around in the white cube with the strip-lights as our sun, taking the temperature of the young art world. Grad shows are in the air. After hours in artificial lighting and a puff of the fun vape, nothing could have hit us harder than the holy trifecta: a mattress, a projector, and a childhood trauma rendered in MDF. Spiritually, we were begging for a piece featuring a dead bird, three mirrors, and a quote from Paris Hilton. Those pieces weren’t exactly there, but we found a Billy bookshelf readymade, a perfectly squared collapsed pile of trash, and a painting projected onto canvas – perfectly commenting on whatever it is the art-world has going for it with signature art for gazillions, echoing the 1960s’ sterile provocations of white-cube interventions and gallery-as-subject installations. And it all felt so, so, so right. Here are some highlights from the Swedish Royal Academy of Art’s master exhibition.