In the summer of 1999 I erected and constructed a large sculpture assignment in the project EXIT* together with Lars Vilks. The creation was called “Air Control Tower”.

During the building I documented the work on the Kivik Tower, a “Ladonian Embassy” that stood only for a short time. It perished in a fierce storm only days after the pics where taken. The beatiful southswedish summerweather in the pictures changed quickly for the worse the day after the Tower was completed. During the towers short span of life Ladonia had an embassy in Kivik, on the eastcoast of the Skåne shoreline.

The building of the tower was fairly quick and easy with the fierce experience of Ladonian Secretary of State Mr Lars Vilks. It was erected during a very special event called "Exit 99". It was constructed at the beach in southeast Skåne, close to Kivik and if you study the pictures closely you can clearly see what an interest the building site draw among the sunbasking crowd at the beach.

The Tower was actually supposed to be set on fire, on the last night of the EXIT-project. It was supposed to make a nice performance burning up. But the nice dry building weather made it in the end impossible. The firedepartment said flat no. A spark was enough to set the whole area on fire. You can see all the dry grass surrounding the beach and the tower… So we expected it to last for a few months on it’s temporary permission. Perhaps longer, since we didn’t figure anyone would be likely to take it down due to the work involved.

But the dryseason ended the night after the fire permission was suspended... A big
rainstorm came in that same night and the Tower was history, so to speak. A short story one might add. The rainstorm that appeared was like a heavy storm in the autumn.

The Tower was (of course) of a very stabile construction, but placed on sand it couldn’t withstand the stormsurges that undermined it enough to shift it's balance. So it fell right out in the raging waters and plunged to its death. In fact the Tower was still in great part whole after the plunge out into the deep gray stormy waters. But it was of course impossible to rescue it and reerect it. The Ladonian shoreline with its big stones and boulders seems to be better for anchoring towers in that sence.

*EXIT '99

For three days, august 5-7, the forth edition of the Exit-festival EXIT 99 was progressing. The festival was situated on a well-known old marketplace just north by Kivik in Skåne, (south of Sweden). The arrangers described it as “a complex international sceneartproject inspired by the theme Transithall/ Runway.” The whole festival was centered on interactivity and storytelling. Several of the most interesting contemporary international artist in many fields where there to perform. The artists included, web, art, theater, circus, vaudeville, music, video, picture, sounds, landart, storytelling, games and more.