Mads Lynnerup, an artist from Denmark studying in America, spoke to students about his work and how he created several pieces Wednesday night.

The speech took place in the Meadows Museum and started with an anecdote about Lynnerup’s thoughts on visiting Dallas.

“When I was driving here I was thinking of my first experience of America. It was filmed here in this city if I’m not mistaken. The TV show ‘Dallas,'” said Lynnerup.

He continued with a slide show displaying pictures of sculptures including an oversized band-aid, a pair of eyeglasses, and a copy of The New York Times four times its original size. He explained that a main focus of his artwork is to alter ordinary objects to change how people view them in their daily lives.

Lynnerup also showed students artistic videos he had made over the past several years. There was a clip documenting how he made certain sculptures, and a video displaying inanimate objects moving on their own. This recording re-enacted scenes he had seen in his own life including a car seemingly driving itself and a shopping cart pushing itself around a grocery store. There was also a video of a shoelace being untied with an erection.

In addition to his sculptures and videos, Lynnerup also talked about a certain style of painting he created.

“There was a toxic smell in my apartment, and I complained to have it fixed. It led me to create ‘Complaintings,'” he said.

The piece Lynnerup showed was a painting of a man being crushed with the caption “HELP” and his contact information on the bottom.

“I liked it ’cause it was in your face. This is my e-mail address, fix my problem,” said Danielle Duncan, a junior art major.

Amy Rivera, the Student Art Association president, said it was really fortunate Lynnerup got to come to SMU since the school did not fund his visit.

She said Meadows Senator Bethany Peters was responsible for finding an anonymous donor to fund the trip.