Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.03.2008, Qupperneq 38

B14 | Reykjavík Grapevine | Issue 03 2008 | Article
Egill Sæbjörnsson is one of Iceland’s leading
young artists. For the past nine years, he has been
based in German’s creative capital Berlin, lived in
Rio de Janeiro and travelled the globe to exhibit
his curious and often humorous creations. At Gal-
lery i8 on Klapparstígur, Sæbjörnsson recently
opened his first exhibition in Iceland for almost
two years.
In his exhibition he deals in an intriguing
way with various conceptions of reality and in-
terprets the way art can reflect the way people
experience their existence and surroundings. The
exhibition features three new video-installations
in which sounds, everyday objects and animated
videos combine in an unusual way. One displays
three coloured glass-bottles, another three rocks
he found in Brazil and the third shows various
plastic items. These objects are lined up in front
of video projectors that project animated images
of coloured lines and forms on the objects, which
then cast a shadow onto the walls behind and cre-
ate a new picture. While all the different shapes
and colours stimulate the imagination, exotic
sounds recorded in Brazil’s forest create a sooth-
ing atmosphere inside the gallery.
“I’ve been focusing on works where I proj-
ect a video onto an object. For me, this makes you
consider that when you look at an object you are
always projecting the ideas you have about this
object onto the object,” he explains and adds that
this could represent the way we project our imagi-
nation onto reality.
Sæbjörnsson has worked with a range of
media but video-installations and animation have
been prominent in his previous art works. “I stud-
ied art [at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts
and at the University of Paris, St.Denis] and my
background is drawing and painting. What I’m
doing today is sort of a continuation of that. I use
technology that landscape painters like Ásgrímur
Jónsson and Kjarval didn’t have back in the days
when they painted pictures of, for example, Mt.
Hekla. I’m sure that those painters would be work-
ing with video and video-installations to interpret
their surroundings if they were young today. That’s
a modern way to look at the world, a logical con-
tinuation of the painting. I don’t want to be mis-
understood, that I’m saying that painting is dead,
like some people always have to focus on. This is
rather just a step forward.”
A Replica of Reality
Sæbjörnsson goes on to explain how he has al-
ways been particularly fascinated with video and
animation: “When you look at a painting, of per-
haps two people sitting at a table inside a house,
talking, first you might see what these two people
look like. Then you notice the red wallpaper in the
background and a window in the corner. Outside
the window you see a clear blue sky and perhaps
a hearse driving by. With a painting like this, of
course someone is trying to tell a story. You look
at this picture and a storyline starts to unfold in-
side your head, creating a sort of video. I always
wanted to make pictures that could move and
that’s why I started working with animation. That’s
just like a moving painting. What I also find inter-
esting is how the video is a replica of reality. I find
it interesting to work with this replica on the one
hand and the real items on the other. To have a
video-image projected onto reality.”
Music is an integral part of Sæbjörnsson’s
art creations. He’s been writing music since he
was 14, released his first album, ‘The Interna-
tional Rock ‘n’ Roll Summer of Egill Sæbjörnsson’,
in 1998 and the LP ‘Tonk of the Lawn’ two years
later. His passion for art and music often merges
in his performances and exhibitions. “I’ve had
this vision ever since before I started art school,
to experiment with art and music and mix the two
together. But making music has always been more
of a passion than anything else. When I released
‘Tonk of the Lawn’ it was just because I had fun
making that kind of music at that time.” The album
received well-earned attention and many fans are
waiting for the next release. “I’ve been planning to
release an album for a long time. I’ve written loads
of songs and even recorded them.” So what’s the
hold up, I ask. After some contemplation he re-
plies: “I really don’t know”.
Egill Sæbjörnsson’s exhibition is open until March
29. Gallery i8, Klapparstígur 33, www.i8.is.
By Steinunn Jakobsdóttir
Art n’ Roll
Egill Sæbjörnsson, ready to get undressed and take
on the world.. Photo by GAS.
“I’ve had this vision ever
since before I started art
school, to experiment
with art and music and
mix the two together. But
making music has always
been more of a passion
than anything else.”