Reykjavík Grapevine - 28.05.2004, Síða 22

22 the reykjavík grapevine
The exhibition is a collection of
dissimilar artworks by various artists
who are united by their method of
expression. The exhibition has nor-
mal, almost mundane things that no
one would ever bother documenting
for the sole reason that they’re just
too common. However, whatever
their intended meaning, some of
those works are much like a joke
gone horribly wrong. Nonetheless,
the exhibition is overall rather enter-
taining. The works contain referenc-
es to society in a way that demands
the viewers’ knowledge of certain
icons, social situations or occurrences
in order to see the big picture. I was
infatuated with the desolate pink
image of Andy Warhol’s Big Electric
Chair, quite apart from whatever
political or sociological message it
might hold. But of course it is laden
with meaning. It not only represents
the icon of the death penalty in the
U.S. but also planned death as op-
posed to chaotic, random accidental
death.
In the basement rolls an amusing
filmstrip made by Bruce Nauman
entitled Setting a Good Corner.
It reminded me of all the hours
I´ve spent watching my father put
together IKEA products or battle
the station programmer of new
television sets with only the
aid of a German
man-
ual. In
other
words
boredom
silently en-
dured out
of curios-
ity of what the end result might be.
Still, that’s being a trifle unfair. My
dad doesn’t own a fancy chainsaw, let
alone know how to wave it around as
smashingly as Nauman does.
A thing to be wary of, when sneak-
ing about in surroundings such as
these where everything is charged
with subtle meaning, is not to start
overanalyzing various objects. I have
another confession to make. Upon
entering one of the showrooms,
I saw an ordinary chair situated
beneath a placard. The placard dis-
played
the name of
Bruce Nauman and his
artwork Large Butt to Butt. Was
this really art? Up rose my rebellious
nature as I immediately sat myself
down. Alas, my revolution was quick
to fall apart, for as I sat there and
gazed over the room I realized that
what I was sitting on and appeared
to be an ordinary chair was in fact
an ordinary chair, put there for the
comfort of weary museum visitors.
The true artwork hung in midair
in the middle of the room, gloating
over my defeat.
Whatever difficulty I may have deci-
phering those
peculiar conundrums, I allow
myself to doubt that I’m the only
one who needs the occasional hint.
Sometimes they forget to connect
those dots. Thankfully, there are the
friendly pieces of paper coated in
plastic that are scattered around the
museum for people such as myself.
They have basic information about
the artists and their works but more
importantly, some contain explana-
tions on the idea behind an artwork
or two.
The contemporary society that the
artworks refer to is in some cases not
all that contemporary either in time
or space. As an example, Felix Gon
zales-Torres’ work Placebo from
1991 refers to the medical pseudo
treatment of AIDS patients. Even
if a cure has not yet been found,
there have undoubtedly been some
changes in this field for the last
ten years or so, not to mention in
society’s view towards the disease
and those who suffer from it. Art
such as this is based on the as-
sumption that the viewer knows
the soil it springs from. At one
point, Koons uses vacuum cleaners
as the means of his expression. It
shouldn’t be too difficult to un-
derstand the artwork because we
all know what a vacuum cleaner
does, but there can be a discreet,
yet distinct message within
the fact that it is an American
vacuum cleaner and not Euro-
pean or Korean. We are not used
to vacuum cleaners that
look like that and
thus experience the
artwork as more ex-
otic than an American
housewife would, who might
even feel that the art is elevating
her own life. Therefore, as much as
these artists enjoy taking objects out
of everyday context to make their
point, it should not be forgotten that
as soon as the “everyday” changes, so
does their art and its meaning.
It is the sort of exhibition we wished
we had from cultures such as the
ancient Egyptians, the Babylo-
nians or even our very own berserk
Vikings. As a result, later civiliza-
tions are usually left with huge gaps
in their recorded knowledge of “ye
olde times”. An exhibition such as
this might reflect more accurately
what contemporaries were actually
thinking.
CULTUREARTS and
A LONG TIME AGO IN A GALAXY
FAR, FAR AWAY...
by Eydís Björnsdóttir
Close-up is an exhibition of American Contemporary Art, which
is currently being held at the National Gallery of Iceland and runs
until the 27th of June.
Greeting me at the entrance was the marble statue of Michael Jack-
son and Bubbles, all glittered with gold. I looked at the white and
shiny surface representing skin that once was dark, and I couldn´t
help a number of possible cheap shot jokes springing to mind.
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Kjarvalsstaðir
Roni Horn’s New Iceland Exhibit
I knew Roni Horn’s Icelandic photographs for their
unusual balance of salesmanship, subtlety and intimacy.
Horn’s current exhibit Hún, hún, hún og hun, at Kjar-
valstaðir until August, does not look like her famous
works, and it may leave the viewer unsatisfied.
CULTUREARTS and
Opened to the public in spring 2003, it comprises a collection which rep-
resents over 30 years of collecting by Pétur Arason and Ragna Róbertsdót-
tir. Theirs is the largest and most significant private collection of its kind
in Iceland. Safn will be featuring temporary exhibitions of new work
alongside the permanent collection.
May-June 20, New works by Icelander Margrét H. Blöndal.
Additional new works this season by artists from Germany and Holland
For more information on the website, visit www.safn.is
Laugavegur 37
Safn
Reykjavík Art Museum
Art school graduation exhibit
The Listaháskóla show at the Reykjavík Art Museum
may provide the most authentic and enthusiastic exhibit
of Icelandic art. It is a joy to see the young, active artists
of Iceland representing themselves at this beautiful
museum. The quality of the work varies wildly - the
video installations by Malin Ståhl and Þóra Sólveig
Bergsteinsdóttir are confident, complete, and use the
space of the museum unusually well.
Snapshots of the Reykjavík art festival