Parrot

Parrot is the third book written by Swedish artist Karl Larsson, whose work consistently explores language, writing, and narrative in relation to historical and contemporary experiments in literature and art. Parrot originates from a research conducted by the artist on the work of Marcel Broodthaers, who famously withdrew from poetry and developed a fascination for birds -- as in the famous piece from 1976 Ne dites pas que je ne l’ai pas dit.

Parrot by Karl Larsson is a 80-pages long poetical essay – or maybe an analytical piece of poetry – about the repetition, the dissemination, and the crystallization of words and their meanings. It is a book about bodies, containers, and documents. It harbors, generates and repeats poetical statements. A parrot is a bird whose body is inhabited by others: it mimicks their language and creates comical and uncanny resemblances. It is a very beautiful bird.

Karl Larsson – Parrot was produced in conjunction with the exhibition "Parrot" Marcel Broodthaers and Karl Larsson, at Index - The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation, Stockholm, Sept-Oct 2010.