Together with Absolut we wanted to create a new kind of event, where local artists interpret the idea of “orobouros” and how that can transform into art, design and music. The local artists are artist Pella Kågerman, the designer Collective Klaun and the band Tussilago.
A copy, is a copy, is a copy, is a copy, of what? The ouroboros is a tail-devouring snake that symbolizes something that is constantly re-creating itself. What other ancient symbol could possibly illustrate the very ephemeral and often circular nature of fashion, the way the ouroboros does? A fashion world where trends go in boom-and-bust cycles, the memory is like that of a guppy and people are constantly moving forward, often by recycling, imitating and copying themselves or others.
Snakes have an ability to seemingly rejuvenate themselves by shedding their skin and throughout history most cultures have assigned symbolic meanings to the reptile. Particularly significant is the snake that bites its own tail, the ouroboros, as a symbol for eternity in a figurative sense. It has been of great interest to different religions, mythologies, alchemy, psychoanalysis and different expressions of popular culture. Along with the symbolism that surrounds the snake as an animal that is constantly rejuvenating itself, the circle forms a powerful metaphor for cyclic repetition. What’s for sure is that it keeps telling us that, through constant repetition, each end corresponds to a new beginning.