zines & art books

betong piano/concrete piano

- björn larsson -

hand-folded leporello . riso print . 19,5 x 13,5 cm . 40 pages . 2023

This series of nearly fifty photos of anti-tank barriers have been accordion folded and assembled by hand to create this document of the long, unbroken line of defense.

Hidden in the foliage of the wooded areas of Norra Djurgården, a string of 48 massive cement blocks stand sentinel between two bays. Called “concrete pianos” for their shape and form, these 17-ton blocks were placed in the suspected path where Russian tanks were likely to invade during WWII. Björn Larsson followed the three-kilometer trail of the barricade from one end to the other, photographing each concrete defender in its natural habitat. At the beginning of the project, it felt like retracing a neat piece of history, by the end, fears of invasion didn’t feel so far in the past.