Reykjavík Grapevine - 28.05.2004, Page 11

already done that. I was abroad for
ten years. I lived in America and it
was very uncomfortable in the long
run. I guess it has to do with the
fact that they have no real national
soul. The USA is just too big. And
it’s all about money. In the end I just
couldn’t stand the commercial breaks
on TV. It was driving me nuts. Then
I went to Paris and lived there for 5
years. There was nothing happen-
ing there. It was like living in the
Louvre. I felt more isolated in Paris
than in Reykjavik so I just came
back. I mean, where else can you
live? I went to London the other day.
There you have the same weather
but no real heating in the houses.
All people talk about are royal sluts,
all the bars close at eleven and they
drive on the wrong side of the road. I
think the big cities are just outdated.
They are dinosaurs. Too huge and
heavy. I don’t want to spend my days
sitting on the tube or chatting my
way through endless openings and
cocktail parties. Reykjavík is small
but energetic. It’s big at heart but
accessible at the same time. It’s the
Palm Pilot of world cities.”
However much Hallgrimur dislikes
current American and European cul-
ture, he has absorbed a huge amount
of it. Much of the appeal of Rey-
kjavik 101 is the stream of fantasies
and rants that focus on that troika
of mindlessness - consumerism,
internet and satellite TV. The book
projects a bleak image of Reykjavik,
and yet it is not one that Hallgrimur
sees today.
“Iceland is the land of opportuni-
ties. It’s so small. You can have
your breakthrough every week. One
weekend you open an art exhibition
and the next one you publish a book
of poetry or write a play and then
all of a sudden you’re a stand-up
comedian. Here you cannot live off
one success; you always have to move
on, you’re always judged by your
latest work, or rather by your latest
career. It keeps you on your toes, you
have to continue creating. It’s a good
thing.”
Without doubt Hallgrimur has
thrived in this environment. He is by
training a painter who has shown at
over fifty exhibitions. There are five
published novels, three plays and a
staggering 5,000 articles to his name.
He has a ‘voice’ and he is not afraid
to use it. He also has Grim.
The Grim truth
Grim is a cartoon character that
Hallgrimur created in Paris in 1995.
In those days Grim ‘spoke’ French
and was used as a weapon to attack
the Art Establishment in Paris.
“Grim is my alter ego, my other self,
he resembles me a lot and in many
ways I wished I had spent more time
on him. I’ve had three solo exhibi-
tions featuring him and I have the
‘Best of Grim’ book coming out in
June.”
I ask him whether he is ever used for
political purposes.
“Well. I did one painting of our
prime minister, Mr. David Oddsson,
as Grim. This was after he called me
into his office where he lectured me
for 75 minutes for having written a
piece about him in Morgunblaðið,
nicknaming him The Blue Hand.
The name has stuck with him ever
since. He was angry. He was grim.
So I did the painting...”
“On the whole David Oddsson has
done a good job, though he’s about
to ruin his reputation by his weak-
ness for personal revenge. In fact,
Icelandic society is the best one the
earth has ever seen.” He pauses and
I assume that he is about to rephrase
or alter the remark but he continues
in the same vein. “It is a big state-
ment but it is true. There has never
been a society where almost everyone
has been provided for. Nobody goes
hungry to bed and no one is cold at
night. Our healthcare system covers
everybody, most people travel abroad
three times a year and every home
has an internet connection. Our only
real problem is the Berlusconian
character of the Prime Minister.”
The issue of the day
It seems an opportune moment to
raise the issue which is currently
dominating the headlines: The new
Media Ownership laws. Should the
President refuse to sign the media
bill?
“Yes. I think it would be a good
idea because then we would have
a referendum. And hopefully the
people would reject this law that is
only directed against one man; Jón
Ásgeir, the head of Baugur Group.
It’s Davið Oddsson’s personal re-
venge, since Jón Ásgeir hasn’t played
by “his rules” and is now funding
two independent newspapers and a
TV station. It’s not your ideal situ-
ation, but we have to think about
the smallness of our market. No one
else was willing to put up money for
these things. If you become too big
in a small society it will always turn
against you in the end. It’s a classic
story. This is what’s happening now
and this is why all our biggest names
live abroad.
“By the time this interview is printed
and read it might all be over, so my
words here might be quite meaning-
less. But I do think that this example
is extreme enough: A personal bill
directed against one person. And
plus: Davíð has crossed the line al-
ready. He was even tasteless enough
to attack our president openly; call-
ing him unfit to handle this bill. The
lowest point in political debate I have
ever witnessed in Iceland came when
the Prime Minister used the Presi-
dent’s own daughter against him.
She works for Jón Ásgeir he said,
and that makes the President unfit
for his office. By saying that, Davíð
also admitted that this law is only
directed against one man, contrary to
what all his people are saying. And
then the blue dogs start attacking the
President’s right to refuse a bill from
the parliament, even though it’s all
there in the constitution. For those
guys nothing is holy anymore. We’re
only this close from dictatorship. I
sure hope the President finally uses
this small power he has. If ever there
was a need it is now. This is the mo-
ment to do it.” He shrugs and sips
some water.
And what of Reykjavik’s new talent,
how does he see them?
“They are operating in a wonderful
environment. Iceland is on a higher
level than it was some years back
when you couldn’t even begin to talk
about Jeff Koons or Matthew Barney
when you came home from New
York. Up here nobody knew who
they were. Nowadays those guys are
walking the streets of Reykjavík. But
I am curious about the latest output
of artistic stuff from the young.
The young generation seems so old.
Most of those kids are very quiet,
very inward, very subtle. They walk
around with woollen hats like this.”
He makes an impression of a Bud-
dhist monk on the way to the mon-
astery. “They light candles, drink
tea and wear no shoes. When they
play on stage they make sure you
can’t see their face. And in interviews
they don’t say much. In Icelandic it’s
called the “Krútt-kynslóðin”, The
Mild Bunch. That’s their style. It’s
OK, but still a surprise to me.”
A black stain on Vatnajökull
Inevitably, the conversation is drawn
to Iraq.
“Iceland is stained by the Iraq war.
Our traditional position has been
that we do not go to war. Actually
we have never fought any war at all. I
mean, how could we, when we don’t
even have an army?!... But this all
changed last year when Davíð & Co.
got us into the mess in Iraq.
“We know now that this war was
fought under false pretences. On top
of everything, we have those recent
pictures of abuse by the American
Army that are totally incredible.
That is a BIG SHOCK to the whole
Western culture. “We” were meant
to be the good ones. But we’re not
anymore. And we cannot escape
sharing some of the blame.
“More significantly, you have to
see those horrors as a product of
our western culture. This is what
you get when generations bred on
violent movies, porn videos and
computer games go to war. We have
to ask ourselves some questions.
Have we gone too far? We have
allowed everything. We allow dead
stupid violence on TV, brainburn-
ing computer games built on rape
and murder, gang-rapes shown at
“respectable” film festivals... etc...
The whole mess has been bred into
a couple of generations and we now
see it acted out in Baghdad. They
can live out their fucked-up fanta-
sises. And it’s all done in our name.
Prisoners raped with broomsticks.
“With kind regards from the people
of Iceland”. It’s the saddest story.
One of the single biggest mistakes
in our history. A huge black stain on
the Vatnajökull glacier. In four years
Bush has created more Muslim ter-
rorists than the previous 2000 years
of Christianity.”
My mind goes to Hlynur and I ask
how Hallgrimur´s character would
have fared as a guard in Abu Ghaib
prison. Hallgrimur continues - he is
on a roll, the words come fast and for
the first time his face is animated.
“Morbid as he may be, I think even
Hlynur would have been outraged
by the atrocities carried out by the
“bringers of freedom”. It might
be too strong to liken it all to the
discovery of Auschwitz, but it is very
close and Bush and Blair have to
bear responsibility. They cannot say
they didn’t know. Hitler could just as
well have said he didn’t know about
the gas chambers. These guys were
stupid enough to create this stupid
situation where things like these have
flourished. They have to take the
blame along with Rumsfeld and the
rest. A leader is a leader, at the top
as well as at the bottom. If the head
is stupid, the limbs can do stupid
things. I also believe that our leaders
too should take some responsibility.
If you side with Hitler, you go down
with Hitler.”
So where should Iceland stand in
its future relationship with America
and what about stronger ties with
Europe? He pauses for a drink of
iced water. The storm has passed and
a smile emerges.
“We’re doing well. We don’t need to
plunge into one camp or the other.
Maybe we should just relax and wait
and be happy.”
We said our farewells as he plonked
his hat on his head, wrapped his coat
around his shoulders, mounted his
bicycle and pedalled off into the cool
of a spring afternoon, in his beloved
Reykjavik.