Photo: Matthew Stone for Dazed&Confused.

Matthew Stone and friends interview Rafael Rosendahl.

Matthew Stone:  What do you have faith in?

Rafael Rosendahl: I think I am a very calculating person. So faith is not something I am concerned with. I look at something’s past and then i try to think what direction that could go to. I don’t think that’s faith. When it’s about me, I don’t know if my fate is decided or if i have a say. I try to spin it for the good. Sometimes my good intentions backfire, but overall I feel blessed. Knowing that things worked out in the past makes it logical to assume that things will work out in the future.

Catherine Borra : Out of all the possible languages (English, Latin, Spanish, visual, sign, irony, empathy, facial expressions, music, archetypes etc.) available on this earth, which one do you feel you express/would express yourself better in, and why? 

RR: I have not yet really found something. I’m not very good at expressing myself. My work has nothing to do with expression. And when i talk to people I usually dont do a good job at translating my own feelings to words. I start talking too much and wrong things come out that hit much harder than the right things. Language is a world of its own which has nothing to do with my feelings. Thats hard, because there are a lot of things inside that want to find their way out.

Scottee : Solitary or Collaboration?

RR: I like making the decisions. And I love never having to explain a single anything. That happens when you work alone. Sometimes it is scary being confronted with the boundaries of your own imagination, but still I love working alone.

Susanne Oberbeck : What is your vision for a future society, I mean in terms of political system, families, human relations, architecture, reproduction and so on?

RR: I calculated the following: If we have ultimate communication tools in the future, it does not matter if you are right next to someone or if they are on the other side of the earth. If you divide 6 billion people equally over the earth’s land surface, we are all 160 meters away from our closest neighbor.
 
Iphgenia Baal : What is the one thing about you that undermines all the opinions you have made above?

RR: Language is a very primitive technology desperately in need of improvement. I feel very limited because of it. Only a few times in my life have I succeeded to feel free from language and that involved a lot of drugs.

Photos: Matthew Stone

Matthew Stone and friends interview Scottee.

Matthew Stone:  How can we change the world and what is there to be done?

Scottee: I would like to say art could change the world - although I’m not sure art will solely. I’d also like to say it can’t be done through religion, but possibly through faith, but in reality i know religions change the world, its followers and their opinion greater than any political party in existence. 

I have socialistic values, equality is important.  

I’d like to live in a world where all the major powers signed The Childs Right (Unicef Artical 46) entitling children of their country the right to shelter, protection and clean water - the U.S.A refused to sign this bill. I’d like to live in a world where people were not HIV prejudice - Where people with HIV were allowed into the U.S and government initiatives were in place to empower them back into work and their community. I’d also like to see Gay men who were tested clear of the HIV virus able to donate blood - these are real basic things that could improve the world we live in immensely. 

What is there to be done? There is alot to be done, certainly within my own community - the recent increase of homophobic attacks resulting in murders has increased in the city I call home, the solution to this I’m unsure of - I spent my early career educating teachers & politicians around homophobia & its effects on young people but quickly became tired of feeling as though I spent my life campaigning, and for something my community didn’t care much for. Did i really want to end up like Peter Thatchell with 24 hr police security and bullet proof doors?

Change needs to happen and at a grass roots level - our education system is failing the next generation. Education is knowledge, knowledge is empowerment and empowerment provokes change

Rafael Rosendahl : What is the best place on earth?

S: My council flat. I fought long and hard for it and its a space I feel comfortable in. Its dead small but I have everything I need here and its my own, which i think is a real working class trait - as long as you have a roof over your head you’ll be ok! I have my herb garden to keep myself amused, If look out of my window and can see the whole city, from the Gherkin to BT tower. My next door neighbour is Sue Tilley - shes a dab hand at baking, playing Mum and lending me dresses, what more could you need?!

Susanne Oberbeck : What is your vision for a future society, I mean in terms of political system, families, human relations, architecture, reproduction and so on?

S: Politically - I’m not ashamed to admit I’m a Royalist. I would love to see Liz dissolve parliament and have a stab at it herself, she’s defiantly has more experience than any politician in cabinet to date - ideal for getting us out of this mess we find ourself in. She’s also oddly seen as an international symbol of peace, something which we dont really recognize here but in Canada, Australia & alot of European countries she is widely respected for her work.

Human Relations, reproduction & families wise I’m not sure we will really last that long to develop these, I mean as a species were quite lucky to have lasted this long - our eyesight is isnt very good, we walk on our hind legs, we’re prone to constant infection and rely on medicine for our survival - surely we are due for extinction? 

Nicola Lane : What does success mean to you?

S: Contentment, so I’m keen not to be successful, I never want to feel content with what i do. 

Matthew Stone:  What is most important to you?

S: Progression - not one for usually being quoted on his philosophical lyrics, Mike Skinner (The Streets) puts it well ‘Lets push things forward’. I may never find the answer, the cure or the key but I’ll die progressing, trying, pushing, kicking and screaming. That shall be my greatest achievement.