BISHOP'S CAPE - A PARAPHRASE, FOR LISE-LOTTE REBEL

Lise-Lotte Rebel, the bishop of Elsinore Diocese, became known nation-wide in 2003 when she suspended the vicar of Taarbæk, Thorkild Grosbøll, for having sown confusion and uncertainty about the position of the church and rejecting its creed with his "alternative" view of God.

"Bishop's Cape – a Paraphrase” is a revised version of the bishop's cape used in Elsinore Diocese, which was designed and partially sewn by Queen Margrethe II. The heavy cape is sliced up into thin ribbons that can be rolled up to transform the cape into a necklace, and thus the object may take on a range of forms from fully rolled-up to fully unfolded.

"Bishop's Cape – a Paraphrase" illustrates the discussion that was sparked by the Grosbøll case about vicars' freedom of interpretation and about the modernisation of the church as an institution. One may join the debate by pulling on one or more of the small, inviting flaps of gold fabric in the rolled-up jewellery to give the cape an appropriate shape.

"Bishop's Cape – a Paraphrase" is not only an image of the discussion about the vicars' freedom of interpretation. The object itself is an interpretation of a traditional sign of distinction – an interpretation that is open to debate, just like the vicars' interpretation of the Bible.

ORB/PURSE, FOR MARIANNE JELVED

The orb is an ancient symbol of the earth, and as Marianne Jelved, for many years the leader of the Danish Social-Liberal Party, is very concerned about Denmark's links to the rest of the world, the object for her was inspired by the orb in the Danish crown jewels.

This orb is decorated with a 1.5-cm band that wraps around the "equator" and sweeps into "the northern hemisphere". Marianne Jelved's orb is made of a 1.5-cm wide leather strap held together by two gilded links; a "globe" made of purse handles. The object refers to the purse that she has become so closely associated with over the years, but it also reflects her strong belief in democracy.

The bag with the many handles may be seen as an invitation to the world to "pull together" and assume collective responsibility. Pulling on one of the handles makes that handle bigger but simultaneously makes another handle smaller. Every action has its consequences, and the "world" changes shape.

The red and green fields that become visible when the handles are pulled refer to the voting buttons in Parliament. The object is an image of the drive and desire for change that Marianne Jelved points to as her main motivation as well as the tug of war that often characterises politics.

"THIS IS A RECTOR'S CHAIN", FOR ELSE MARIE BUKDAHL

"This is a Rector's Chain" reflects Else Marie Bukdahl's dual role as the rector of The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and an art historian. The rector's chain consists of small links of square silver wire joined together to form the statement "Dette er en rektorkæde” (This is a Rector's Chain). The chain is both work and work description, and in some ways, "This is a Rector's Chain" is an image of the discipline of art history.

The links in the chain refer to familiar principles of order such as periodisation and chronologisation, which, like all principles of order imply a certain rigidity in the treatment of works of art. And indeed, the chain does not follow the contours of the body like normal chains or necklaces but is in fact rather rigid – in one dimension. In the other dimension, the rector's chain is flexible; the many links can be unfolded as one long line and potentially folded into other statements than "This is a Rector's Chain".

The chain suggests that art history is not a singular method but a discipline with its own history and, thus, with varying systematics. The chain also suggests that modern art history is characterised by a higher degree of openness and diversity in its approach to works of art and to previous art historical views.

"I AM PLAYING WITH LANGUAGE AND RISKING TAFDRUP'S LIFE", FOR PIA TAFDRUP

"I Am Playing With Language and Risking Tafdrup's Life" is a series of brooches based on a statement by the Danish poet Pia Tafdrup about writing: "I don't play with language. I risk my life" (from "Over vandet går jeg: Skitse til en poetik").

I scrambled the letters in Tafdrup and made a "name tag" for each of the new combinations: FUPDRAT, FATPRUD, FRAPTUD, FADTRUP, PARDUFT, FARTDUP, PUFDART and FRU D PAT. Pia Tafdrup is an avid dictionary reader, so the brooches were displayed as a sort of three-dimensional poem with related word explanations.