My essentials: Tomas Hed’s cultural picks

59, Art Director/Artist

About  

I was born in Stockholm, Sweden. In summertime my parents rented a house at a milk farm, a few hours’ drive away, so my sister and I grew up having two worlds; the colourful city, and the beautiful countryside. I think this shaped me into the person I am. Now I live in Gozo, making my art and having fun being a grumpy old man.

Book

I am currently rereading Oriana Fallaci’s A Man. I read it when I was 17 years old and it left a strong impact on me back then. One of my teachers lent me the book. A Man is a biographical novel about Fallacis’s love affair with Alexandros Panagoulis, a man who fought against the Greek military junta, and in 1968 attempted to assassinate the dictator. There are a lot of emotions, and the story makes you think, and think again, and question your own morals. I’m happy I found a second-hand copy online.

Film 

The Belly of an Architect. Kracklite is an American architect who has been commissioned to build an exhibition in Rome about an 18th century architect. Kracklite suffers from stomach pains and suspects his younger wife is trying to poison him, just like Caesar Augustus was poisoned by his wife, according to ancient rumours. The movie has a decadent vibe. The backdrop of ruins is a metaphor of how beauty and success, empires and enterprises, all are doomed to fall. There is corruption and betrayal. Kracklite can’t digest it.

Internet and TV 

I think the internet attracts too much attention. It swallows and isolates us with algorithms designed to please and boost. Everything is within reach, but there’s nothing solid to hold on to. Blown up self-image is not self-esteem, imagined friends are not friends but our own voices in echo-chambers. In my view, social media is a drug and as addictive and dangerous as heroin.

Music 

I’m pretty much stuck in the past. Every album or song that I really like were recorded between 1965 and 1975. It might be Bowie, Queen, Beatles or Pink Floyd. Even The Sweet. The alternative rock from California was a bit interesting in the 90s. Recently, I was happy to discover Angine de Poitrine, a duo from Québec. I think they started last year, so that’s very new music. Here in Gozo we have Divine Sinners, who always crack me up.

Place 

I’d have to go back to the farm and my childhood summers. There was a stand made of stone blocks where the farmer put big milk churns early in the morning. It became ‘my place’ where I often went to be alone and do nothing.  Actually, I think I should go and find myself a little girna here in Gozo. Solitude is underrated.