A-FL’s ’80 KG’ (2021) is the second installment in an annual edition titled ‘My Weight in Gold’. The phrase is a pun on the metaphoric idiom ‘worth its weight in gold’, which has its origin in the Roman Empire and first appeared in English by the early 1300s.
For the 2021 edition of My Weight in Gold, A-FL weighed himself, after which he sourced an extensive number of vintage, weight-themed postcards. From dietary recommendations to foul jokes, most of the postcards were originally issued in the second half of the last century.
A-FL’s weight, as of the last month of the passed year, is gilded by hand onto the tergo side of each of the cards, and a small signature is applied by rubber stamp.
Each of the cards, which are unique and selected at random upon purchase, comes in a rubber stamped envelope, with a translucent inner envelope protecting the delicate surface of the gilding. This is an open edition, yet numbers are highly limited, due to the laborious process of making each card.
Biography
A-FL (b. 1985) lives and works in Gothenburg, Sweden. The artist’s conceptual point of departure is often a found object—whether tangible or intangible. From urban debris collected on the street to artefacts sourced at flea markets, such materials are treated as ready-made components in assemblages: ingredients, visual cues, or prompts. These objets trouvés may also take immaterial forms—a discovered word or phrase, an idea—ripe for appropriation or inviting a response.
Using the book as a vehicle for exploring questions of identity, language and culture, A-FL has published a number of editions with LL’Editions. In 2021, he released the book Första Januari, published by Hundörat Small Press, Stockholm. The artist’s book was proof-read by the legendary Swedish artist and Fluxus pioneer Bengt af Klintberg. A-FL’s recent releases include For Your Tears, a multiple made in collaboration with Heimo Zobernig (AU) and Simon Iurino (IT), Imposter Syndrome, a multiple released in 2023, Mixed Blessing; a multiple consisting of 100 needles and an aspirin in a medicine bottle, and Bergmans Banaliteter (Bergman’s Banalities), published by Farozonen Förlag in 2024.
