1
Greyhounds chasing over a wall. In the background a large dog's head.
Greyhounds
  • SIT,
  • Holland
2
A large metal chair covered in graffiti
The Beginning
  • Alazar Beyene,
  • Sweden
3
A fairy and two wolves
The Fairy and the Wolves
  • Ver Tisoy,
  • Sweden
4
A neon sign in the shape of a large green leaf hangs in a tree
The Children’s neon leaf
  • Lott Alfreds,
  • Sweden
5
A pair of eyes in black and white on a distressed copper plate
Metal Eyes
  • Adina,
  • USA
6
Two men squat on a loading dock with the word boy dash spray painted on the side. Behind is a door spray-painted in bright colors
Pojkstreck (Boys Antic)
  • Kenny and Brain,
  • Sweden
7
A black-and-white skull, which is part branchwork, looks up at the sky
Throwing Leaves Against Machines
  • Vegan Flava,
  • Sweden
8
A girl in a red dress on an electrical cabinet
Nonna On Electrical Cabinet
  • Nipponpop,
  • Sweden
9
A girl in carpenter's trousers holds up a cranberry straw. She is standing on a grass-lined road with high-rise buildings in the background
Girl with Wild Strawberry Straw
  • Jimmy Rosenholm,
  • Sweden
10
A wall has been given the shape of a train with little ghosts, all painted in black and white
The Ghost Train
  • Knut Larsson,
  • Sweden
11
A skull in pink and black and white painted on part of a wall
Skulls
  • Ziggy,
  • Sweden
12
A child sits on an old-fashioned bomb where the stub is lit.
A Child on a Bomb
  • Alias,
  • Germany
13
An old graffiti wall with faded paintings.
Graffiti Paintings
  • Hoodsfredsfestivalen,
  • Sweden
14
A child in a red shirt sits on a swing with his back to us. The swing is painted on a door and hangs down from the door sign.
Children on Doors
  • Alias,
  • Germany
15
A pattern in strong colors winds along the foundation of the house
Winding Pattern
  • Shora Denhavi,
  • Sweden
16
On one door is an invented written language written in three layers
Cryptic Alphabet
  • Ziggy,
  • Sweden
17
A girl in a red Japanese-inspired dress painted on a house plot
Nonna on the Facade
  • Nipponpop,
  • Sweden
18
A painting with many musty colors depicting fancy birds with bows around their beaks in a jungle
The Confidentiality Lady
  • Pernie Paints,
  • Sweden
19
A gentleman in a black top hat and black suit but also partly graffiti painted in bright colors
Gentleman
  • Shai Dahan,
  • USA / Sweden
20
A blue tit with its wings spread painted on a bridge
Blue Tit
  • Shai Dahan,
  • USA / Sweden
21
A full bridge is covered by a gridd, a pattern that bends and bends the bridge's former.
Gridded Bridge
  • Puppet Industries,
  • Sweden
22
Under a bridge bracket there are glittering butterflies and little fairy children
Butterflies and Fairy Children
  • Crossie,
  • Great Britain
23
A face made of colorful patterns
Goddess
  • Amara Por Dios,
  • Sweden
24
On an island there is a small figure surrounded by water with shark fins and a jungle. In the jungle there are more small figures and one of them reaches towards the figure on the island. Between them is a heart.
A Love Crush
  • Rein,
  • Sweden
25
A colorful pattern reminiscent of textile art
Greetings to Spring and Summer
  • Julia Rio,
  • Sweden
26
A black and white badger is painted both above and below a staircase
Badger
  • ROA,
  • Belgium
27
A large matryoshka doll in bright colors with symbols such as an extended middle finger and roses
Matryoshka
  • Saadia Hussain,
  • Sweden
28
A woman with one eye and flowing hair where there are small houses painted in purple tones
Woman with One Eye
  • Caro Pepe,
  • Argentina
29
A four-leaf clover painted over with lots of straight lines in different bright colors
The Pursuit of Happiness
  • Kollektivet livet,
  • Sweden
30
fjäril och sagobarn
Butterflies and Fairy Children (indoors)
  • Crossie,
  • Great Britain
31
A miniature woman with her back to the viewer appears to be standing and waiting for something
Woman waiting
  • Pablo Delgado,
  • Mexico
32
A couch that looks like a mouth with bright red lips
The Happy Widow
  • Magdalena Åhberg,
  • Sweden
33
A huge blue arm sticking out of the ground and in its hand it holds a large white round globe
The Blue Arm
  • Lola,
  • Sweden

The Pursuit of Happiness

  • Kollektivet livet,
  • Sweden,
  • 2014
A four-leaf clover painted over with lots of straight lines in different bright colors

If you make your way through the entrance doors at Rotemannavägen 26, you find yourself in the foyer on floor 5 of Subtopia’s main building. Here, the Swedish collective Kollektivet Livet has created an artwork on the wall.

Kollektivet Livet has been active in Stockholm since the 2000s, and in addition to their artistry, they also run a cultural agency as well as a bar and stage. They like to navigate various parts of the cultural spectrum, ranging from commercial to underground, and work on large-scale installations and designs.

At Subtopia, they want the viewer, through art, to get lost in thoughts and emotions in an otherwise very planned world. The mural you see in front of you has an abstract pattern in different colors that Andreas Blom, member of the collective, has worked on for several years. The four-leaf clover of hearts, which is a common symbol in street art, is recurrent in the collective’s art. According to Andreas, it represents love and the hopeless pursuit of happiness. The kind that is hard to find when actively seeking but emerges when least expected.