Exhibited at:

Mutualisms, Co-Prosperity Sphere, Chicago (US), 2011 | Western Trilogy, Gylleboverket, Gärsnäs (SE), 2012 | IMPAKT Festival, Utrecht (NL), 2012

Stills from You’ll Never Walk Alone, HD-video, 6:00 min

You’ll Never Walk Alone was filmed in Spain’s Tabernas desert where spaghetti westerns were shot in the 1970’s and 80’s. This film features my father Christer Pettersson and it addresses his life-long battle with Crohn’s syndrome. It’s a chronic disease in which the body’s immune system attacks the gastrointestinal tract, the result being that one’s body literally becomes one’s own worst enemy. Common byproducts of this Chrohn’s are social anxieties like agoraphobia, which is what informed the narrative and my choice of setting for this project. The disease becomes an ever-present shadow, following you wherever you go. This is the final instalment of my Western Trilogy, the previous two films are Big Game and Kära mor och far (Dear Mother and Father).

Installation views from Mutualisms, Co-Prosperity Sphere, Chicago (US), 2011

When the You’ll Never Walk Alone was first shown at Co-Prosperity Sphere in Chicago a picnic table accompanied the film. The lyrics to the eponymous song were carved into the surface of the table and singer-songwriter Steve Dawson was commissioned to perform a rendition during the opening.

A series of 12 hand-made posters (40x62cm) photographed for Mutualisms publication, 2012 

You’ll Never Walk Alone (2011) from Magnus Monfeldt on Vimeo.