6 ms·

I might be reading this story incorrectly, but it seems like Ladonia is just a normal piece of property which is owned by artists who issue "citizenship". Is t

I might be reading this story incorrectly, but it seems like Ladonia is just a normal piece of property which is owned by artists who issue "citizenship". Is there some other quality I am missing that separates it from any other piece of property someone owns, creates a website for, and calls a micronation?

kalleboo 13y ago
I used to live in the municipality where there is going on. The most interesting part is the legal wrangling. It's not private property - it was built with driftwood in a public nature preserve. The authorities wanted it gone, but first of all - it's natural driftwood - is that illegal? Well, it turned out to be. So the artist sold the sculpture itself to some uncontactable people outside of the country, and suddenly the municipality couldn't just order him to remove it, and so on and so forth. He then built another sculpture of cement with hundreds of numbered rocks, and sold each rock to a different person, in order to spread the "blame" further. Eventually it got so popular it became a local tourist attraction. And so it still stands. edit: Aside from that it's just a kooky artist doing kooky things. Lars Vilks in infamous in Sweden for his stunts. He's also been outspoken in free speech issues which has made him a target of Muslim fundamentalists.
adisbladis 13y ago
Not really.. It's just as much of a country as my apartment is. The artist in question has also had lots of media attention for his work depicting Muhammed (the prophet): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lars_Vilks#Muhammad_drawings_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lars_Vilks#Muhammad_drawings_c... The guy is a racist nutjob.
- kalleboo 13y ago
  I doubt he's racist. He's more of an offline troll.
  - vilhelm_s 13y ago
    And hardly a nutjob---if you read his blog (www.vilks.net) he is clearly quite smart. My impression is that he mainly trolls the art establishment. It's usually quite difficult to tell how serious he is. His book "Hur man blir samtidskonstnär på tre dagar: handbok med teori" ["How to become a contemporary artist in three days"] seems to seriously and carefully argue for George Dickie's institutional theory of art, while at the same time it is clearly taking the piss out of contemporary art projects...
    - sitkack 13y ago
      I am pretty sure I would like to be friends with this guy.
- jere 13y ago
  He's a racist nutjob for drawing "Muhammad as a roundabout dog"? Or is there something else?
  - mrkickling 13y ago
    If acting like a racist makes you a racist, then yes he is a racist. Some people would just call him a troll though.
    - freshhawk 13y ago
      I assume the question, which I'm also curious about, is "what has he done that was racist?". Drawing a picture of Mohammed is the only thing mentioned, which obviously isn't racist.
    - sitkack 13y ago
      A troll in Sweden? Say it isn't so.
      - jere 13y ago
        Ha!
_mans_ 13y ago
Living close to the so called country I can confirm that your suspicions are mostly correct. The land is owned by the government (afaik) and is not a private property by the artist. From time to time the government threatens to destroy his buildings, but since they have survived this long they can mostly be seen as empty threats.
yxhuvud 13y ago
You are reading it wrong. The property is owned by the Swedish government. The artists are simply fucking around.

kalleboo 13y ago

I used to live in the municipality where there is going on. The most interesting part is the legal wrangling. It's not private property - it was built with driftwood in a public nature preserve. The authorities wanted it gone, but first of all - it's natural driftwood - is that illegal? Well, it turned out to be. So the artist sold the sculpture itself to some uncontactable people outside of the country, and suddenly the municipality couldn't just order him to remove it, and so on and so forth. He then built another sculpture of cement with hundreds of numbered rocks, and sold each rock to a different person, in order to spread the "blame" further. Eventually it got so popular it became a local tourist attraction. And so it still stands. edit: Aside from that it's just a kooky artist doing kooky things. Lars Vilks in infamous in Sweden for his stunts. He's also been outspoken in free speech issues which has made him a target of Muslim fundamentalists.

adisbladis 13y ago

Not really.. It's just as much of a country as my apartment is. The artist in question has also had lots of media attention for his work depicting Muhammed (the prophet): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lars_Vilks#Muhammad_drawings_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lars_Vilks#Muhammad_drawings_c... The guy is a racist nutjob.

kalleboo 13y ago
I doubt he's racist. He's more of an offline troll.
- vilhelm_s 13y ago
  And hardly a nutjob---if you read his blog (www.vilks.net) he is clearly quite smart. My impression is that he mainly trolls the art establishment. It's usually quite difficult to tell how serious he is. His book "Hur man blir samtidskonstnär på tre dagar: handbok med teori" ["How to become a contemporary artist in three days"] seems to seriously and carefully argue for George Dickie's institutional theory of art, while at the same time it is clearly taking the piss out of contemporary art projects...
  - sitkack 13y ago
    I am pretty sure I would like to be friends with this guy.
jere 13y ago
He's a racist nutjob for drawing "Muhammad as a roundabout dog"? Or is there something else?
- mrkickling 13y ago
  If acting like a racist makes you a racist, then yes he is a racist. Some people would just call him a troll though.
  - freshhawk 13y ago
    I assume the question, which I'm also curious about, is "what has he done that was racist?". Drawing a picture of Mohammed is the only thing mentioned, which obviously isn't racist.
  - sitkack 13y ago
    A troll in Sweden? Say it isn't so.
    - jere 13y ago
      Ha!

_mans_ 13y ago

Living close to the so called country I can confirm that your suspicions are mostly correct. The land is owned by the government (afaik) and is not a private property by the artist. From time to time the government threatens to destroy his buildings, but since they have survived this long they can mostly be seen as empty threats.

yxhuvud 13y ago

You are reading it wrong. The property is owned by the Swedish government. The artists are simply fucking around.