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Brothers indicted for Vilks arson attack

Two brothers suspected of setting fire to the home of the Swedish Muhammad cartoonist Lars Vilks were charged with arson on Thursday.

Published: 1 July 2010 12:18 CEST

The suspects, who originate from Landskrona in western Sweden are charged with arson at Vilks’ home in Nyhamnsläge, north of Höganäs on the west coast, on May 15th.

The house suffered extensive damage in the fire which was started in the evening. A kitchen window was shattered and flammable liquid was sprayed into the kitchen and while a curtain caught fire and the flames spread to a kitchen cupboard, the wall and ceiling, it later went out by itself.

The evidence against the men included two fire-damaged jackets, a knife, two plastic bottles and a lighter, as well as a pair of underwear and a jackknife.

In one of the jackets that police found at the crime scene, they found a key to the home of one of the brothers.

Further incriminating evidence supporting the charges against the brothers includes the fact that one of the brothers admitted himself to hospital on the same night as the with burns to his legs. The man also smelled of gasoline, according to a hospital employee that chief prosecutor Eva-Marie Persson has called as a witness.

Police were able to demonstrate from the analysis from a seized PC that one of the brothers had searched for Vilks’ address on the internet.

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LISTEN: Malmö artist puts sound of fizzy pain pills on vinyl and it's oddly captivating

Malmö sound artist Alexander Höglund recreates his experiment. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

The story has gone viral worldwide and has been written up by the international news agency Reuters. “It is beyond any expectation. I am beyond surprised,” Alexander Höglund told The Local on Friday.

“I was thinking that my close group of highly enthusiastic sound artists are maybe going to like it. But of course it is super fun that a sub genre of art gets such notice.”

He said that he thought people appeared to find “something appealing in the silliness of it”.

The sound of fizzing pills held a powerful emotional appeal, which he had wanted to capture, he said.

“For me this sound is loaded with childhood memories, but it also holds a promise that things will soon get better,” he said. “Maybe it's getting rid of a headache or taking down your hangover, or whatever you need it for.”

“I also thought there was something humorous about going to the effort to put it down on vinyl.”

He ordered the pills on eBay from around the world and had them shipped to Malmö, before recording their different sounds in a high-end studio.

The resulting record, SUBSTANCE, includes local Swedish favourites such as Alvedon, Treo, Apofri and Ipren, and international standbys such as Bayer Aspirin C, Anadin Extra, Dispirin Aspirin, and Nurofen.

He said his favourite was the Bayer pill.

“It's the Aspirin C. It's different from the others, because it dissolves much slower, and since it dissolves slower it also generates a more fulfilling or satisfying sound,” he said.

Here is a video of Höglund meditating as Aspirin C is recorded:

As well as capturing his own feelings about the sound, he said, he wanted people to consider the different meaning it might have for someone with a chronic illness.

“For people who are suffering from chronic pain, these things have a completely different meaning. A severe meaning,” he said.

Höglund, who comes from Kalmar and studied in Stockholm, said he felt Malmö was a good place for creative people.

“There's a lot of opportunity for emerging artists in Malmö so that's why I'm temporarily here,” he said. “I don't see myself as a permanent person.”

He pressed 150 copies of the record, which can be bought on his website for just 300 Swedish kronor. How many he has sold is, he says, “a commercial secret”.

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