Charlotte Gyllenhammar: Whiz

In Whiz, the woman is both revealed and concealed. The photograph is taken from below, showing the suspended figure while simultaneously protecting her from full exposure. As Gyllenhammar explained at the inauguration at SSE, the work balances visibility and concealment at the same time.

The work also connects to academic inquiry and analytical thinking, both of which often involve challenging assumptions and reconsidering accepted perspectives. By asking what happens when familiar relationships are reversed, Whiz invites reflection on how new perspectives can generate new understanding.

Whiz is displayed in the Heckscher-Ohlin Room, which explores the relationship between economics, economic history, art, and creativity. The room includes site-specific commissions by Jens Fänge and Bella Rune, as well as works by Charlotte Gyllenhammar, Christian-Pontus Andersson, and Fritiof Schüldt.

"Gyllenhammar turns the world upside down. Theorizing and analytical thinking require us to do exactly that: turn the taken-for-granted on its head. We are urged to pose the question: what if things were the other way around? Is the dependent variable, in fact, the independent one? What is hidden in what we regard as face value?

When we use different tools, completely new realities are activated. This is what many researchers do: they apply tools to empirical material in order to discern something else. Technologies make us see the world in other ways. Without telescopes, there would be no insights into cosmos. Without microscopes, no insights into microcosms. Without digital tools, modern science would look very different. The Heckscher-Ohlin Room also reminds us of the charm of serendipity in science."

— Lars Strannegård, President of the Stockholm School of Economics