''Nimis'' (from the ''latin'', "too much") is a site-specific sculpture and proverbial chancellory of Ladonia by

Lars Vilks Lars Endel Roger Vilks (20 June 1946 – 3 October 2021) was a Swedish visual artist and activist who was known for Lars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversy, the controversy surrounding his drawings of Muhammad. Many years earlier he had created ...

located at Håle stenar in the north western region of

Skåne Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

, Sweden, in the declared micronation Ladonia. The artwork mostly consists of wooden constructions erected of

driftwood Driftwood is a wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves. It is part of beach wrack. In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides ...

planks A plank is timber that is flat, elongated, and rectangular with parallel faces that are higher and longer than wide. Used primarily in carpentry, planks are critical in the construction of ships, houses, bridges, and many other structures. Plank ...

and

branch A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins. History and etymology In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includ ...

es. The work is illegally placed in

Kullaberg Kullaberg () is a peninsula and nature reserve protruding into the Kattegat in Höganäs Municipality near the town of Mölle in southwest Sweden. The site in the province of Skåne is an area of considerable biodiversity supporting a number of ...

, which has led to an ongoing legal process between the artist and the Skåne County administrative board. Parts of the artwork have been set on fire on different occasions, and it was rebuilt after a fire in 2016 by Ladonia's Art and Jumping Minister, Fredrik Larsson. This rebuilding led to a fine being issued in 2018 by a district court. Vilks viewed ''Nimis'' as a conceptual piece of art and the legal issues were hence a part of the concept. Since 1986 the artwork has been owned by the artist couple

Christo and Jeanne-Claude Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009), known as Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were artists noted for their large-scale, site-specific environmental installations, often large landmarks a ...

. Vilks also claimed that the artwork was placed in the

microstate A microstate or ministate is a sovereign state having a very small population or land area, usually both. However, the meanings of "state" and "very small" are not well-defined in international law. Some recent attempts to define microstates ...

Ladonia. In the same area is also another one of Vilks artwork located, ''Arx''.

History

Background

''Nimis'' was built by driftwood and is made of sparingly nailed together boards and branches which forms pathways, rooms and towers. The construction of ''Nimis'' began in July 1980 as Vilks "revenge to the ocean" after having been close to drowning. But also as a comment to the current trend in art where "nothing lasted".''Nimis'' når slutpunkten 2030
Helsingborgs Dagblad

Development

The authorities did not know that ''Nimis'' existed until 1982. When they got aware of the situation they tried to go forward with demolishing it due to its unlawful construction. This led to a long legal process which Vilks introduced into his artistic practice and regarded as a piece of the artwork. The physical work grew, and spanned over 100 meters, while some of the towers were above 15 meters tall.Lars Vilks (2005) ''Pressrelease: Nimis 25 years'', www.ladonia.net, read 12 April 2011 ''Nimis'' has been updated under the decades and over 160,000 nails have been used during these years. In 1984 ''Nimis'' was sold to the German artist

Joseph Beuys Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( ; ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and Aesthetics, art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism and sociology. With Heinrich Böll, , Caroline Tisdall, Rober ...

, and after his death it was sold to the artist couple

in 1986.

Fire in 2016, verdict in 2018

The whole ''Vindarnas torn,'' which was approximately 25 percent of the artwork, burned down on 24 November 2016. Other parts of the artwork were also damaged. After that, Vilks started a mission to secure the artwork and rebuild it, but in another shape. Due to this Vilks was sentenced by the Skåne County administrative board to pay a fine in 2018. Which he aimed to dispute.

Image gallery

File:Nimis detaljer 2003.jpg, alt= File:Nimis2 kullaberg.jpg, alt= File:Nimis4 kullaberg.jpg, alt= File:Driftwood statue Nimis, july 2004.jpg, alt= File:Nimis 20130705 05.jpg, alt= File:Nimis3 kullaberg.jpg, alt= File:Nimis1 kullaberg.jpg, alt=

References

Printed sources

* {{Cite book , title=Nimis och Arx , id={{ISBN, 91-88248-50-X

External links

* YouTube
''Nimis'' a well visited day
Wooden sculptures in Sweden 1980 sculptures Site-specific art Culture of Skåne County