Christian Dumky

At Tjolöholm I portrayed myself as a worker. My task was to dig a hole next to the path leading up to the castle. I had marked down the site with a “man at work” sign and three poles with security tape. I was dressed in an orange set of jacket and pants that gave me the right look. I wanted to become a member of the environment and how well would I be accepted and trusted if I had a proper uniform showing that I could have a purpose. I have never looked at this work as boring or communicated this attitude to others. When you saw me digging that became what the discussion were based upon so instead of digging and finding that boring, I had it only as a luring activate to make pedestrians feel curios of what I was digging for. For me each time I got stopped I had a sense that maybe now I will get caught the might just see right threw my bullshit about digging up the corner stone for the mausoleum that was burnt down 1975. But the work doesn’t have a clear purpose in itself. I didn’t want to write down words I’ve got from people coming up at me. The drawings I had made that were standing in the castle were also not meant to be found and make a clear connection to me as a worker. The complexity and thinking in every shovel was something I hadn’t thought about either, lustful to dig when I know that it’s only for appearance that it should look good, after I’ve filled the hole up the forth time. I remember the first day, I tried getting into character I dug a new hole as well because I told myself that’s the rational way. I was done with the big hole now I’m moving to a new. The staff came the next day with their golf-cart complaining that we had only agreed on one hole. I said “but I didn’t find the broken pipe their so I needed to make a new one” I remember the war I had with the staff to be able to dig a hole in their precious lawn, without performing a result

Dig up Dirt 2013. press image to play film