We live in a world with heightened protection even over what we observe, including censorship, filtered messages, and protection from real horrors. What do you believe this trend will lead to, and what drives you towards dark, gloomy, and triggering aesthetics? What impact do you hope to achieve?

Uffe: The governing of the individual, the protection from danger, also implicates that you should be afraid, that there is something to be afraid of. I don’t think it creates a useful reflection of the world we actually live in. The world is beautiful and gruesome at once. I’m not afraid to use strong images in my works, but that’s not the intention from the start. When I’m in the process, the need to address things directly often comes a little along the way. If it exists in the world, there is a necessity for it to also exist as a conversation in art, because that space can offer us a platform to process trauma or at least work with potential scenarios in a safe space. And this does not only apply to the visual arts, but also literature, film, theatre, computer games and many other forms of art, so I am also interested in expanding my work beyond the visual arts.

This was a collaborative project. Describe the interaction and mutual collaboration, the common ideas you wanted to emphasise, and the key points. Conversely, what did you have to revise the most, if anything?

Uffe: Well, on my part, I was curious about the idea of the single work, which Jacob’s Booth focuses on. Having done some large installations in art institutions recently, I found the street access and confinement of the space a liberating deviation from more recent work. The title of the show, PIG TOOL, reflects the claustrophobic feeling of the space, since it essentially just names the objects in the show – a pig and some tools – but also pointing out that the pig is a tool in itself. We did talk a lot about how to make the space work as a miniature installation, that looks a bit out of scale because of the lack of real world references. All in all, everything kind of made sense once the sculptures and the title was in place.

Tijs: The project is a dynamic interaction between the artist, curator, and the booth itself—a kind of creative triangle. Each show emerges from this exchange. It was an absolute privilege to have Uffe create an in-situ piece specifically for the booth and to collaborate with both him and Maria. Maria immediately recognised the booth’s potential for Uffe’s work, and Uffe developed a full installation that elevated the space. Their collaboration took this project to the next level, and I couldn’t be more grateful for their contributions.