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Vice Blog

SCANDINAVIA - A PEEK AT FRANK MÖLLERSTEN


Swedish illustrator and artist Frank Möllersten is your average skinny hardcore guy but with a twist, like being into Buddhism and colors. And he has a rabid Notorious BIG obsession. Oh, and he doesn't drink or do drugs but we still bump into him at every single party. He mostly draws stuff like fast food, comics, video game characters, and tween hoodlums hatching their next plot. Besides a bunch of exhibitions he's released books and zines together with his art school classmate and Vice favorite, Ragnar Persson. Here's a looksie at three drawings from his upcoming series about a schizophrenic dude who fell in love with himself, got married, and moved into a tree house, a true story that took place in his hometown, Hedemora, last century.

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I first heard this story when I was in middle school. Some kids were going on about a legend they'd heard, about a young guy who had fallen in love with himself and moved out to the woods to start a family. They were all grossed out and laughed about it but I found it beautiful. It's a true story and not that farfetched, as Hedemora, where I grew up, is pretty much like

. Weird shit happens every summer: police shootings, people disappearing, spine-chilling murders. In this picture he meets his "better half" for the first time. Unaware of his schizophrenia, he believes this skeleton dude to be some cool guy he just met and they immediately hit it off, full-on Tyler Durden style.

In this picture the two get married. As my protagonist is totally detached, the priest isn't real either, just an imaginary character. I mean, what priest would marry a schizophrenic guy to himself? Another cool thing about this story is that his self-obsession gave him absolute independence. Rad.

This is my favorite picture. They picked up the flags at the wedding ceremony and are on their way to the little tree house in the woods where they'll live happily ever after. They're over the moon and totally crushed out. Don't they look cute? If you live in or remotely near Stockholm, go check out Frank's window display at Skylten, which opens March 25. For more drawings go here.