Between 1971 and 1972, Swedish artist Sten Eklund created a series of 53 hand coloured etchings that he called Kullahusets hemlighet (the secret of the Kulla house). The etchings are a work of fiction, presented as the work of botanist J. M. G. Paléen, who in 1849 discovered a strange area surrounded by magnetic fields. He encountered no people in the area, but plenty of evidence of human-like activity: agriculture, mining, etc. When later on he tried to return to the area to do further research on it, he was unable to find it again.
The images range from maps to technical drawings to plant, mineral and insect studies. They are enigmatic, familiar the way a recurring dream is familiar. Looking at them, I feel like I'm about to reach a sense of understanding at any moment - but it remains just out of grasp.
A now out of print book with all the images was produced in 2016. I found an incomplete list of the titles on an auction site and the titles of the images are so evocative that I wanted to translate and share them. I think not having an image for every title adds a new layer to the artwork. Understanding is fragmenting and slipping between my fingers.
List of motifs:
The Kulla house, overview.
The Kulla house. Blueprint.
Overview of the Kulla house area. 3:1&2: Cross section with variations in elevation.
Possibly a device for energy transformation or communication.
Detail from the above.
The screens. Occurred all over the area. Probably intended for the uptake of solar energy.
The screens. Technical drawing.
Technical drawing of different wagon types. The upper wagon open, the lower hermetically sealed.
Communications central (?) with strange vessels, "ferries", controlled by the stones placed in a row in front of the building. 9a. The stones in front of the central.
The treatment plant. Seems to be designed not to allow emissions through the magnetic curtain.
The engine room inside the treatment plant.
The wagon area at the top of the Kullait mountain. 12a. Detail of the wagons.
Geological map of the Kulla house area.
The rock at the entrance of the Kulla house area.
The open-pit mine (2 in fig. 3).
The type of rock by the "Kulla house" (1 in fig. 3).
Mineral I. Slightly larger than natural size.
Mineral II. Slightly larger than natural size.
I-III. The Kullait quarry.
Botanical map.
Horsetail plant from the farm (fig. 20/3).
Algae (fig. 20/16).
Fruit from bush grown by no. 4 in fig. 20. 23a. The same as the above.
Consequences of the rising temperatures.
Overview of the until then prevailing type of vegetation.
The trees by the yellow dots in fig. 20. A kind of peculiar overgrown lichen, or possibly stunted palm species.
Silphium connalum.
The hotbeds.
The hotbeds, technical drawing.
From the lichen cultivation.
One of the houses by no. 4 in fig. 3.
Stool from the house area.
Table.
Box (storage).
Vessel.
Meteorological map. One can see that the heat development shows a kidney shaped characteristic starting from the Kulla house (1).
Flying device (soundless).
From the interior of the Kulla house. Stand with pipes.
The wall. In front of the wall we can see one of the frames (stands).
Some of the machines in proximity to the wall.
The storage building by no. 11 in fig. 3.
"The white spot", one of the heaps of white powder found in multiple locations within the area.
The insect.
The greenhouse by no. 3 in fig. 3.
Seed dispersal area.
Moss.
From the interior of the Kulla house (Camera Obscura).
Images nicked from here.
