THE ANDERSONS
Color photograph, 93,3 x 142 cm. 2015
The The Andersons is a mock-photography depicting the fictional Anderson family: Mr. and Mrs. Anderson together with their daughter Belinda who was adopted from Denmark to Minnesota, USA in 2006.
The work is part of the Loving Belinda project which also includes the videos Adopting Belinda (2006), Revisiting the Andersons (2015) and Loving Belinda (2015) as well as the publication Loving Belinda (2015). As a whole, the project is based on the fictive story about Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, a supposedly Asian-American couple in Minnesota who have adopted Belinda, a white girl from Denmark. In the videos the couple is being interviewed about their experience of adopting Belinda. Everything appears ordinary, with the exception that the racial and cultural dynamic is reversed. The project employs the mockumentary genre, appropriating documentary features to destabilize reality with subversive effect. In the Loving Belinda publication, the fictional universe is contextualized by conversations between the individuals involved in the project, whom in reality are all engaged in critical discourse on transnational adoption, anti-racism and whiteness in Scandinavia.
Installation view: Oslo Kunstforening. Photo: Christina Leithe Hansen.
Installation view: Galleri Image. Photos: Minik Busk / Guston Sondin-Kung.
CREDITS: Photographer: Guston Sondin-Kung / Cast: Belinda: Elke Olaf Goll, Mr. Anderson: Tobias Hübinette, Mrs Anderson: Jane Jin Kaisen / Supported by: The Danish Arts Foundation