Hans Sternudd

I am Professor Emeritus of Art History and Visual Studies.

Research

In my research, I have often been interested in how inner experiences, often referred to as affects, feelings or emotions, are visually represented. This has involved, for example, the Red Rebel Brigade's representation of grief in climate manifestations, photographs of well-being used in the treatment of people suffering from stress-related illness, and self-injury as both a visual physical expression of a person who feels bad and photographic documents of these. The material in my studies has mostly consisted of non-professional representations published on internet forums, social media or YouTube

In my latest research project, The Use of Nature in Black Metal, I am interested in how images of nature are used in the subgenre Atmospheric Black Metal (ABM). The project is interested in how “nature” in ABM represents different values, properties and states. Often these are idealized, in a similar way that environmentalists may use concepts such as Mother Earth, but within the cultures I study, “nature” can be given completely different meanings. The material for the study is based primarily on the covers of classic albums by Darkthrone, Immortal and Burzum, and later groups such as Afsky, Wolves in the Throne Room, Panopticon and Grima. I put “nature” in quotation marks because the concept, defined as something unaffected by humans, is not applicable during the Anthropocene.

Early in my research I became interested in bodily and scenic expressions, such as action art and performance: Multimodal expressions where different modes and media meet; for example visual, aural and bodily expressions, mediated as image, text and movement. As a member of the Linnaeus University Center for Intermedial and Multimodal Studies research group, I am developing my research on these encounters and how media intertwine.

Mina mest citerade arbeten kommer från forskningsprojektet Smärtans semiotik, vilket kretsade kring fotografier av självskador publicerade på internet:

My most cited work comes from the Semiotics of Pain research project, which revolved around photographs of self-injury published on the internet:

• Photographs of self-injury: Production and reception in a group of self-injurers
• ‘I like to see blood’: visuality and self-cutting