Portraying Norwegian Espen Brandhaug in the posture of a monarch, Kolby deals with a special group and it’s position in our society. Standing like Louis XIV, Espen who has Downs Syndrome looks at us his people with an unusual gaze of strength and security - qualities we would think belonged to "us" and not to a mentally disabled. The contrast between the signals this "monarch" gives us and our usual thoughts about mentally disabled persons, gives the spectator the opportunity to reconsider the way in which they evaluate people.
Espen Brandhaug is a good skier and has won several medals. He is therefore portrayed with the symbols of his regency, as the king of skiing. With his ski pole as sceptre and his ski-straps worn around his knees as royal orders, our monarch reigns his very personal Kingdom.
