Fordelen ved at være ordblind

Advantages of being dyslexic

2024 // A 8 channel sound installation // 21:00 min loop
exhibited at Kunsthal Charlottenbrog during ‘exit’ 2024

‘The Advantages of Being Dyslexic’ is a 21-minute immersive multi-channel sound installation exhibited at Kunsthal Charlottenborg curated by Post Brothers during Afgang 2024.

This installation takes place in a 5x5 meter green fabric room and is based on powerful and insightful stories collected from workshops and an open call in 2023, involving over 80 children, teens, and adults with dyslexia.

Installation view at Kunsthal Charlottenbrog, exit graduation, from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.

Over 400,000 people live with dyslexia in Denmark. The installation aims to imagine a society that focuses on abilities, encouraging us to believe in and embrace our neurodiversity.

The central question posed during the workshops was: "Hvad er fordelene ved at være ordblind?" ("What are the advantages of being dyslexic?").

For many participants, ranging from 3rd graders to 70-year-olds, it was the first time they were asked to consider the benefits of dyslexia, and how their ability to translate sound into letters and vice versa could be regarded as a superpower rather than a 'dysfunction'.

The sound installation is a composite of recordings from these workshops, intertwined with narration based on the participants' stories, and concludes with a community song.

By sharing these diverse experiences and reflections, the installation amplifies the wide spectrum of ways people live with and cope with dyslexia.

Dyslexic experiences tell us something profound about difference, experience, and neurodiversity. It challenge our perceptions of the relationship between spoken and written words and how we navigate systems built around concepts of 'normality'.

Living with dyslexia compels individuals to creatively interpret their environment, leading to the development of multi-dimensional tools and strategies.

Nymann has adopted green as a symbol of dyslexia awareness, using it in her installation and campaign due to its calming yet hyper-visible hue.

By reinterpreting a pathologized 'disorder' into a source of ingenuity, the sound piece celebrates dyslexia and aims to engage with society’s understanding of it, challenging our predispositions about what a dyslexic experience is.

The sound work stands as a tribute to dyslexia.

CREDITS

artist
Julie Nymann

sound designer
Joëlle McGovern Serret

»samlet union«
composer & producer
Agnes Valbjørn Stavnsbjerg

narrator
Jonas Kjeldgaard Sørensen
Mette Moltke Wozniak
Julie Nymann

voices
Limfjordskolen Struer, Ordblindeklubben Nørre Nissum, FGU Vesterbro, Anette Marcher, Kim Lykkegaard and Marie Vedsmand

writer
Julie Nymann

script editor
Agnes Valbjørn Stavnsbjerg

dramaturgi
Julie Nymann
Joëlle McGovern Serret

technical coordination
Kristine Bech Sørensen

technical assistance
Nikolaj N. Phillipsen
Keith Allan
Tilda Lundbohm

the sound installation is genrueset supported by
Politiken-Fonden and Overretssagfører L. Zeuthens Mindelegat

special thanks to all of you for sharing your stories
All teachers and dyslexics who were part of ‘Fordelene ved at være ordblind’-workshops at Københavns VUC, FGU Vesterbro, Limfjordskolen Struer, Ordblindeklubben at Nørre Nissum skole, dyslexics students in higher education who receive SPS, and dyslexics in a public open call

thank you
Sound Art Lab, Ordblindeinstituttet, SPS counselor at Københavns VUC, Struer municipality and library

furthermore, thank you
Andrea Diermayr, Helle Harnisch, Ida Vestergaard Øyan, Jane Hye Jin Kaisen, Kristel Laurits, Kristine Bech Sørensen, Lars Bo Henriksen, Lars Buchholtz, Louise Rytter, Maibritt Borgen, Oskar Koliander, Pi Bartholdy, Rune Søchting, Silas Emmery, Troels Dankert, and Vibeke Rasmussen