"It's alive!" Om upptäckten av ett fettberg i Londons kloaker

InSeptember 2017 both Swedish and Finnish media reported news of a discovery madein the sewers of London. A so called fatberg, consisting of flushed down fat,wet wipes and nappies blocked the sewage system. What was fluid had congealed,and what was hidden became visible, provoking repulsion and a need to actforcefully.

We areinterested in what happens when something hitherto hidden and unknown calls forattention. What was discovered and revealed in the sewers of London? Bystudying media reports on the discovery of the fatberg, we analyse how city andbody, nature and culture, attraction and repulsion, the ordinary and thesensational are entwined in the attempts to disclose and come to terms withwhat takes the form of a monster. Measurements, close-up pictures, and livelyreports on sensory impressions are all part of this affective encounter, whererelations and responses are formed.

It is sometimes proposed that we live in thegeological epoch Anthropocene, characterized by significant human impact on theecosystem and geology. The discourses on the fatberg forms the base for ourcase study where the focal point is man’s encounter with such beings anddifferent ways of handling and understanding the consequences of our lifestyle.