text for book published by STANDARD(OSLO)
and STANDARD(BOOKS)

2021

mikael lo presti/greetings from the whereabouts

“this is the story of my changes of mind”

is a text about my collection of keychains
holding on to cities in my pocket

“I own many keys and many keychains. My set of keys tend to be so large in both amount of keys and in size that it is hard to carry with me. It can also be hard, trying to find the right one when I am standing outside my door in the cold, or outside work hearing the alarm counting down. Many of my keys look almost exactly the same, so I have learned to look for their slightest differences in color or cut in order to let myself in, without having to try three or four keys each time. Sometimes, when I am tired, I try with keys I know won’t work at this door. Different shape, different color, no logic, just lazy. Because I have already spent too much time and energy trying to remember these keys, I don’t bother doing it once again. In these moments, I almost feel drunk looking down at the bunch of keys in my hand. They are too many, too heavy, yet apparently I need them all. It would be less practical not to carry them around. Practical, that’s exactly what keys are.”