We have finally set up camp. Not only that, I have committed to start in a new position as the social marketing guy at destinationen. It’s the perfect crime – doing what I love and getting paid for it. What’s more, the product I’m selling is the island I love – Bornholm.

Bornholm has had a tough time ever since the primary industry, fishery, shut down during the 80s. Several other major work places are now gone, tilemaking closed,  agriculture has become machine run. The population peaked at fifty some thousand after WW2, but is now around 43000 and diving.

Tourism accounts for just shy of 9% of the local economy and unemployment fluctuates wildly between winter and summer when most of the temp jobs are available.

Tourism, and its derived effects, is now one of the main job creators. Boosting tourism and attracting visitors is therefore one of the best ways of making the local economy grow organically. I’m proud to be a part of this mission, and I draw huge motivation from it.

What else could be done to boost Bornholm?
Take a look at the swedish island of Gottland. The Swedes have a better understanding of what it takes to sustain the outer rims of their country. Massive subsidies of transportation, mainly ferries, placement of higher education institutions have made it more attractive for businesses to settle and for high school graduates to stay put.

Sure help from parliament would be instrumental, but as they say, change starts from within. I’m going to work on April 4th.

The Internet is doing to galleries what a bomb would do to the Fields Mall.
Sure, some brick and mortar stores still have relevance – much in the same way real world art shows still make sense. But galleries are doomed to lose their role as gatekeeper for the artist as well as the collector. Artists will find ways to host their own shows as oneoffs with established galleries or in empty storefronts. Paying the rent creates a need for cash upfront, but control and sales income remain with the artist.

As an artist, it more and more looks like a losing deal to surrender 50% of sales in return for hapless marketing and real estate on a physical gallery wall. Smart artists around the globe are now using their tech skills to connect directly with collectors as well as establish a permanent online record of their artistic activities. Instead of leaving a printed resume in a pile of similar ones at the gallery, Blogging is a powerful tool for documenting and communicating the artistic journey.

The balance of power is shifting back towards the artist and the collector. In this relationship the brand of the artist becomes everything as he performs to the dispersed audience of thousands of individuals.

But about the painting above – this is the next one in the lineup from the series “War is Coming Home” featuring scenes of war in our home country. What happens in the aftermath of terror? People stay home… Denmark is increasingly finding itself in the top of the list when terrorists want to make a statement. Maybe it’s time to rethink our foreign policy…
Enjoy!

The photos were shot on my trusty old Canon APS camera and I haven’t done much but applying some levels and curves in photoshop to try and counter the inherent noise in the original processed negatives.

Not much of a good time to look at, but I had to share these images that still haunt my mind.

I am thinking about the Danish soldiers in Afghanistan these days.
Two separate events have fueled this.

Danish Colonel Lars Møller published his book “we kill – and live with it”
Danish documentary director Janus Metz’ Cannes screening of his Documentary titled “Armadillo” shot in Helmand, Afghanistan.
Both focus on the reality of war and the mental effects on 20 year-olds being sent to the front line.

Now the Danish media are all over it. The microphone is held to the usual voices that deliver the same soundbites as always.
Journalism is so lazy. The job now boils down to scanning the rolodex for people on either side of the argument and then rehearsing them ahead of the “discussion” on primetime TV.

Of course there are plenty of “experts” and politicians willing to deliver the goods. It’s all about promotion in the end.

What I don’t get, is the extreme hypocrisy of people (especially politicians) that condemn the actions of soldiers operating in a reality that they themselves have never experienced and would rather forget.

Maybe Møller and Metz will have helped to open the eyes of these same people. Maybe then we can have a true discussion about why the soldiers were sent in the first place.

As always with war, there is plenty of artistical inspiration.
I started working on this painting because I wanted to bring home the reality of war. Afghanistan like Denmark was a monarchy between 1933 and 1973.

I can’t help but wonder what the danish debate would sound like if this painting was reality.

Trey makes some amazing HDR photography and I really encourage you to check it out. Temples, Fireworks, Sunrises – it all looks great!

Anyhow, since the COP15 riots in front of Forum things have cooled down here considerably.

So the weather was stacking up for some time in front of the screen. With the help of this cute little piece of software Photomatix it is possible to stack together 3 differently esposed photos into one.

And Voila, you have the detailed contrast of the dark areas without the bleeding whites in the highlights.

Remember, this is an early effort into HDR, but comments and suggestions for improvements are welcome.

Enjoy!

From Photography by Carl Frederik Waage Beck

A few months ago I wrote a post called morality vs. democracy about the Iraqis asylum seekers that took refuge in Brorsons church on Nørrebro.

By order of the Minister for Refugees, Immigrants and Integration and for Ecclesiastical Affairs, Birthe Rønn Hornbech, the church was emptied by the Danish police at 2 am august 13th. The refugees were sent back to Iraq and the story made headlines for a while in Danish and international newspapers.

It’s been quiet for a while now. Then the director Aage Rais-Nordentoft made this documentary short film. The film is 16:22 long – take the time to watch it.

Best regards, Carl

AFVIST from AFVIST on Vimeo.

Dear friends,
these days something is happening in Iran which hopefully will improve the ability of thousands to speak their mind and express themselves however they see fit.

I am not trying to promote a certain political view here, but when artists, writers and people in general are prohibited from expressing themselves the way they see fit, that is a concern to me.

I encourage you to do what you can to make this change possible:

• Set your timezone on Twitter to “Tehran” which will make it harder to track the people actually tweeting from Iran.
• Re-tweet important messages and tweets on the development in Iran.
  
• Tweet the following message: “See how you can promote free speech in Iran http://bit.ly/uBnMZ Pls RT #IranElection”
• Share this post on Facebook and Twitter.
  
• Search for #IranElection on twitter and you will see a live view of the change in progress.

best regards, Carl

The results are in, and the winner of Saviour 2009 is…….. (drumroll) Barack Obama!!!
Below is a detailed view of the votes:

When I initially started thinking about the idea of making an election as part of the exhibition in Brorsons church, I had no idea that reality would catch up and highlight the importance of personal responsibility.
As the votes where being cast on this site and by many on May 28th at the reception in Brorsons, 60 Iraqi refugees where sheltering in the crypt and in the organ loft of the church.

Their presence reminds us all that even though we can elect leaders to guide us through the rough patches, we still all have an obligation to “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.

These words where repeated by Obama last thursday in Cairo. Maybe this is why so many voted for him.
Take the time to watch the whole speech. The words are spoken at 52:10.

Best regards, Carl

“The Colorful Statesman” from Artworks by Carl Frederik Waage Beck

I am happy to be able to tell you that the church council on monday decided to cooperate and let the 50 Iraqis stay in Brorsons Church.

This will not influence the reception in celebration of the “Frelservalg / saviour 2009” exhibition being held on thursday 28th from 5 pm-8 pm. I hope to see you all!

Best regards.

Carl

Below is an excerpt from a support site http://kirkeasyl.dk/ that discusses why this action was taken and how you can contrbute.

The Danish government has signed a repatriation agreement with the Iraqi authorities, and will begin the dispatch of the 282 Iraqi asylum seekers, who have been living at Danish asylum centres for many years. We are a group of people who neither can, nor will tolerate the dispatches. For this reason we support the group of Iraqi people who have applied for asylum in “Vor Frue” (ed: now Brorsons) church in Copenhagen.

As citizens, we must take action, when the Danish authorities fail in protecting people who need protection.

Our demand is permanent residence, since:

• Iraq is a country in war and chaos. Going back, the Iraqi risk their lives.
• Denmark took part in starting the war in Iraq. We have a direct responsibility for the tragic situation, and for a situation where it has not been possible for the Iraqis to go back.
• The Iraqis have wasted enough years. The Iraqi refugees have waited for up to 10 years in the centres. These have been years where they have been living in fear for their future. Years, where their children have grown up in Denmark. Years, where humans and minds have been worn out. We have to give them back their lives.
• Previous dispatches have revealed that the Danish authorities send people back without taking any responsibility for their lives.

Who can take part? Anyone who can vouch for this statement and who wants to be part of ensuring permanent residency for the Iraqis.

Den danske regering har underskrevet en hjemsendelsesaftale med de irakiske myndigheder og vil påbegynde udsendelser af de 282 irakiske asylansøgere, der i mange år har siddet på danske asylcentre. Derfor bakker vi, en gruppe der ikke kan eller vil finde os i udvisningerne, op om den gruppe irakere, der har søgt asyl i Brorsons Kirke i København.

Når de danske myndigheder fejler i at beskytte mennesker, der har behov for det, må vi som borgere træde til. Den danske befolknings solidaritet er afgørende for irakernes mulighed for opholdstilladelse.

Vores krav er opholdtilladelse til irakerne fordi:

• Irak er et land i krig og kaos. Irakerne risikerer døden ved at tage tilbage.
• Danmark var med til at starte krigen i Irak. Vi har direkte medansvar for den tragiske situation, og for at irakerne ikke har kunnet rejse tilbage.
• Irakerne har spildt nok år. De irakiske flygtninge har ventet i mange år – nogle mere end 10 år i centrene. År hvor de har frygtet for deres fremtid, hvor deres børn er vokset op i Danmark, hvor mennesker og psyker er slidt ned. Vi må give dem deres liv tilbage.
• Tidligere udvisninger har vist at de danske myndigheder sender mennesker tilbage, uden at tage nogen for form ansvar for deres videre skæbne.

Hvem kan være med: Alle som kan stå inde for dette grundlag og vil være med til at sikre irakerne permanent opholdstilladelse.

اللجوء في الكنيسةـ اسمحوا للاجئين العراقيين بالبقاء

وقعت الحومة الدنماركية اتفاق ارجاع قسري للاجئين مع الحكومة العراقية، وتنوي المباشرة بارسال ٢٨٢ من طالبي اللجوء العراقيين، الذين بقوا في معسكرات اللجوء الدنماركية لسنوات طويلة. نحن مجموعة من الناس التي لا تستطيع ولا تحتمل الابعاد القسري هذا. ولهذا السبب نحن ندعم المجموعة العراقية التي طلبت اللجوء في كنيسة “سيدتنا العذراء” في كوبنهاكن.

كمواطنين دنماركيين يجب ان نقوم بما يلزم، حين تقدم الحكومة الدنماركية على عدم حماية الناس المحتاجين للحماية. ان مساندة الشعب الدنماركي حاسمة في امكانية حصول اللاجئين العراقيين على اقامة.

نحن نطالب باعطاء اقامة للاجئين العراقيين للاسباب التالية:

ـ العراق في حالة حرب وفوضى، والعراقيون يتعرضون لخطر الموت في حالة عودتهم

ـ كانت الدنمارك مع القوات التي ابتدات الحرب، ونحن نتحمل بذلك المسؤولية المباشرة لهذه الحالة الماساوية، وكذلك المسؤولية في ان العراقيين لا يستطيعون العودة

.

ـ لقد بدد اللاجئون العراقيون عدد كاف من السنوات، فقد انتظروا لسنوات طويلة، البعض اكثر من عشر سنوات، كانوا خلالها خائفين على مستقبلهم، وكبر خلالها اطفالهم في الدنمارك، التي سحق فيها الانسان وتدهورت حالته النفسية، لذا يجب علينا ان نعيد لهم حياتهم

.

ـ ان اجراءات الابعاد القسري السابقة اثبتت ان السلطات الدنماركية تعيد الناس قسريا، دون ان تتحمل اي نوع من المسؤولية حول مصيرهم بعدها.

من يمكنه ان يكون معنا:

كل من يستطيع ان يتبنى هذا المبدا، ويساند حصول اللاجئين العراقيين على اقامة دائمة