Ladonia

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Ladonia (lat., Eng .: Ladonia ) is a micronation on the southern Swedish coast on the Kattegat . The Swedish artist Lars Vilks called them out in 1996 after years of legal dispute with the local authorities over two larger sculptures he had erected in a nature reserve. The authorities wanted to demolish the works of art due to the lack of a building permit, but this never happened. Another work of art built in 1999 has since been removed.

history

Nimis, Arx and Ladonia

Nimis

In 1980 the artist Lars Vilks began to construct Nimis (Latin: “too much”), a complex made of driftwood that now weighs 75 tons. The work of art was created in the nature reserve Kullaberg in northwestern Skåne ( Sweden ).

The area around the work of art is difficult to access, which is why it was officially discovered two years later. The authorities decided to remove it and declared Nimis to be the building that did not have a building permit in the nature reserve. Vilks challenged the decision but lost in court. Vilk's repeated attempts were also unsuccessful, and finally the Swedish government ordered the authorities' decision to be enforced. In the meantime, however, Nimis had been bought by Joseph Beuys and, after his death, by Christo and Jeanne-Claude . In 1985 Nimis was largely destroyed by an unknown arsonist - at a stand of around 15 tons. Vilks lost no time in the reconstruction, so that the total weight of the work of art soon exceeded the original 15 tons. In 1991, Vilks began work on the stone sculpture Arx (Latin: "fortress"). From then on this sculpture was also the subject of the court hearings. In 1996, Vilks expressed his protest by proclaiming the State of Ladonia. The name goes back to the dragon Ladon in Greek mythology.

In November 2016, Nimis burned again. Arson is again assumed.

Omphalos

In 1999 another sculpture, Omphalos (Swedish also Omfalos ; named after Omphalos , a small sculpture in a temple in Delphi ; "which marks the center of the world") was erected. It was made of stone and concrete, was 1.61 m high and weighed about a ton. The Gyllenstiernska Krapperupstiftelsen , a foundation for the preservation of a castle about 3 km away and owner of the land occupied by Vilks, accused Vilks of having erected this sculpture, informed the police and also demanded the removal of Nimis and Arx. Vilks initially denied his authorship to Omphalos. In August 1999, the competent court ordered the removal of Omphalos, but ruled against the removal of the other two works of art. Although police were unable to clearly identify Vilks as the builder of Omphalos, the court assumed that it was him.

The removal of Omphalos, as expected, sparked controversy. Vilks was tasked with finding an acceptable method of removing the artwork. He then proposed to blow it up on December 10, 2001 - the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize - and asked for permission to do so. The authorities made a decision on December 7th but kept it secret until December 10th. In the meantime, the artist Ernst Billgren Vilks had bought Omphalos and demanded that his property not be damaged. On December 9, a security team was dispatched on behalf of the authorities to approach by sea and move away from Omphalos. Despite Billgren's claims, the sculpture was damaged in the process. The removal costs of 92,500 Swedish kronor were billed to Vilks. Billgren donated the artwork to the Swedish museum Moderna museet , where it is on display today.

As a result, Vilks asked for permission to erect a memorial for the work of art at the same location. Permission was given, but only for a monument with a height not exceeding 8 cm. Nevertheless, he erected a memorial and inaugurated it on February 27, 2002.

In 2002 Vilks reported that over 3,000 Pakistanis had applied for immigrant status, misinterpreting the micronation's web presence.

Population and Citizenship

On Ladonia's website it is stated: “Nobody lives in Ladonia. All citizens are nomads. ”Citizenship can be applied for online and is free. A title of nobility can also be acquired for a fee of US $ 30  . Currently (2016) there are around 18,000 Ladon citizens.

In the meantime a number of “ministers” and “ambassadors” have been appointed, mainly artists who have come to know Vilks. Many ministries have artistic or exotic names (an early example: "ministry of art and jump"). "Taxes" are "paid" in Ladonia according to the rules of the country by bringing in one's own creativity.

flag

Flag of Ladonia ("Glorious Green") ? Aspect ratio: 13:21National flag on land Normal or de jure version of a flag
Variant with distinction of the cross ? Aspect ratio: 13:21National flag on land Variation of a flag based on the same basic pattern

The flag of Ladonia is a green flag with a green Nordic cross . The special feature is that the background and cross have exactly the same color, so that the flag appears uniformly green and is so difficult to distinguish from the old flag of Libya . A variant with white contours is therefore also common.

The color of the flag is defined in the sRGB color space as the color value # 009000 (red: 0, green: 144, blue: 0). The flag is 13 units high and 21 units wide. The cross arms are each 3 units wide. The left green “background” fields are square. The horizontal division is 5: 3: 13, the vertical 5: 3: 5.

The deeper reason behind the aspect ratio (13:21), the appearance of the dimensions of 3, 5 and 13 units and the color value of the green channel of 144 is the use of Fibonacci numbers . It is also essential that the ratio of successive Fibonacci numbers approaches the golden ratio 0.618 .... This is why the ratio 13 ⁄ 21 = 0.619 ... has an aesthetic value. The same applies to the rectangles appearing in the flag with the ratios 8 ⁄ 13 = 0.615…, 5 ⁄ 8 = 0.625 and 3 ⁄ 5 = 0.6. You can also make out squares with sides 3, 5, 8 and 13.

Ladonia also has a special sea flag. It is essentially white with a green cross, but has a number of other details.

Nimis

Nimis is a series of driftwood labyrinthine towers and corridors along Ladonia's coast. Part of the construction is also formed by fallen trees and fallen branches. The construction will be continued continuously. A separate tower, Wotan , is listed as the “capital” of the country.

The work of art is not easy to find as it is not signposted or mapped for obvious reasons. The best way to find Nimis, and thus Ladonia, is to start at Himmelstorp, a well-preserved farmstead from the 18th century, and follow a path marked with yellow “N” s, which begins easily but becomes increasingly impassable.

and display information about the image
Nimis seen from the bay

Arx

Arx

Arx is another work of art near Nimis in the form of a sculpture of stones held together with concrete, embodying an abstract book and carved into the page numbers, as well as the occasional text and characters. The book weighs 150 tons, has 352 pages and was even published in 1993 by the Swedish publisher Nya Doxa . The edition is at least two today, because a "copy" has already been made. Arx forms the second part of the Ladonia constitution.

literature

  • Bengt Johannisson, Caroline Wigren: Extreme Entrepreneurs: Challenging the Institutional Framework . In: Poul Rind Christensen, Flemming Poulfelt (Ed.): Managing Complexity and Change in SMEs: Frontiers in European Research . 2006, ISBN 1-84542-908-7 , “Lars Vilks: An Anarchist and State Founder”, pp. 156-179 , here p 166 ff. .
  • Lars Vilks: Att läsa arx . Nya Doxa, 1993, ISBN 91-88248-43-7 (This is the - somewhat more manageable - companion book published for Arx.).
  • Lars Vilks: Nimis och arx . Nya Doxa, 1994, ISBN 91-88248-50-X .

Web links

References and comments

  1. ↑ second edition of the Old Herald ( Memento of the original from August 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (then Ladonia Herald ) and first comprehensive, publicly available statement @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ladonia.net
  2. ↑ a b official website ( Memento of the original from January 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ladoniaherald.com
  3. ^ Branden på Lars Vilks "Nimis" utreds som murder fire . In: Dagens Nyheter , November 25, 2016 (Swedish).
  4. ↑ Page about Omphalos ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on modernamuseet.se. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.modernamuseet.se
  5. ↑ Pakistanis' 'new life' in imaginary country. BBC
  6. ↑ List ladonischer Minister on the official website of the country
  7. ↑ Explanation of the name "Glorious Green" of the flag in the New Herald
  8. ↑ a b Declaration on the standardization of the flag
  9. ↑ Article on the sea flag
  10. ^ Lars Vilks: Arx: en bok om det outsägliga . Nya Doxa, 1993, ISBN 91-88248-47-X (“a book about the unspeakable”).
  11. ^ Story of Nimis and Arx ( Memento from October 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  12. ^ Declaration on the constitution of Ladonia ( Memento of February 8, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) in the Old Herald with reference to an older edition ( Memento of April 19, 2001 in the Internet Archive )


Coordinates: 56 ° 17 ′ 16 ″  N , 12 ° 32 ′ 22 ″  E