Following this weeks storm, we gain perspective on a multitude of points, our utter helplessness in the face of nature and our cultural fascination with all things grey.
Storm patterns are common occurrences, no doubt about it, when the storm dubbed Simone swept in over southern Scandinavia and in turn Lund, people battered down the hatches, public transport ground to a halt and we were told to remain indoors. All of this transpired with a quiet and almost modest Scandinavian efficiency, something which truly comes to punctuate that our society truly functions within the realms of Lagom.
That we have come to not expect anything unexpected, that life plateaus and that we remain happy with our current predicament. Ideals which in themselves would be lauded by the forefathers of the Swedish welfare state, yet are they always ideal?
For in the vein of many a Scandi-noir such as the now global The Bridge or Wallander series, gray is popular, grey is good, grey is something we can relate to through the very monotonous points of life, something which we all come to face at certain points. This popularisation of ‘gray scandinavia’ rubs of on the society we come to live in. Our society which has in turn been polarised to such a degree through continual secularisation and ratification of a constant everyday norm, history and culture have in turn been normalised through medial interpretation whilst dramatised, offer potent reminders to our very unique social norms.
We look out and see the inherent greyness of a south Scanian autumn, yep; it’s wet, it’s cold and it’s usually quite windy. Yet our adaption to perennial grayness has been through our inherent creativeness in the face of monotony. Innovation within the tech and design industry have in turn come to fuel the Swedish export industry and the very image that grey is cool, the Swedish model is something which has been adhered to. As seen throughout the 20th century with Sweden being defined as the model for developing the welfare state, standard of living and economic growth.
Yet as many of us may have stood by our rattling windows and watched as select detritus flew by, in those moments we would have deemed ourselves to be helpless in contrast to the scale and power of nature. Yet the storm moved on and the sudden return to normality followed, we make our way out and in turn see that the resulting chaos has left minimal damage. We see how the municipalities workforce is already busy at work at removing fallen trees and renovating damaged facades, indicative of the fact that we live within a society of calm effectiveness and social minimalism.
We exist within individual spheres of quiet effectivity, we must relish the fact that within this greyness we can find sparks which ignite the creative essence of scandinavian idea based export.
Cherish the greyness, for without it, what would we be?
