Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.08.2008, Side 26

26 | REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 10—2008
INTERvIEW By Steinunn jakoBSdóttir
Fergal starts by explaining that he’s interested in the old
Icelandic Sagas, not in a touristy saga-circle-rout way but
rather why the old tales still play a big part in the country’s
culture. “In Ireland we also have a very strong mythology but
the stories, they’re rather looked at as fairytales. No one re-
ally believes there’s any truth to them. They are considered
Cinderella-type stories.” He points out that every country in
the world has sold a part of their culture for tourist reasons
and that in Iceland the Saga characters seem to be the com-
mon attraction. “What interests me is that after a thousand
years these stories still persist. What does that say about a
country? A country that has had colonial issues, like Ireland
or Iceland, quite often turns back to its mythology as a way
of expressing its nationalism. Every country in the world has
done it. But why would you go back to something that’s so
ancient, and say this is what symbolises us? That’s what I find
interesting.”
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF vIKINGS
In order to embrace the stories, Fergal plans to re-enact three
famous scenes from the ancient Sagas, dress up as notori-
ous characters and have his photographer shoot pictures at
the original settings. “It’s all about doing it at the actual loca-
tion. The location is almost more important than the story as
the places are very much central to the action. For the first
shoot, I’m going to Snæfellsjökull where I will dress up as
Bárður (Snæfellsás) and have a cup of tea on the mountain”.
But as the story goes, Bárður was half human and half gi-
ant and disappeared into the glacier during the age of settle-
ment. “There’s not much known about him unless he was
this gray shadowy figure. According to the myth, he is still
up there and people see him as the protector of the whole
peninsula.”
The next day Fergal plans to go to Drangey Island where
Grettir the Strong lived as an outlaw for three years. He will
redo a part of one famous scene where Grettir swam from
the island to shore (which is about 7.5 kilometres) in the ice-
cold water. “I’m though only going to swim for five minutes
because it’s really cold and I’ll have a wetsuit on underneath
the clothes. The photographer will follow me in a boat.” The
final location is Bergþórshvoll, where Njáll’s farmhouse in
south Iceland was set on fire killing Njáll and his family. “The
original house burnt down so I will go to the garden, place
a small model of the house there, get little figures and dress
them up and then burn it!”
DOCUMENTING THE ICELANDIC LOOK
Another aspect of his project in Iceland deals with facial
structure and characteristics. “I’m interested in characters,
be it Icelanders, Irish or any other country. I’m interested in
what forms a country’s character. Why is a certain group of
people different from another group of people? What are the
expressions of characters? The genealogy of a country inter-
twines with the geography giving a country a particular look
so you for example got a French look or an Icelandic look.”
On July 28 he plans to recruit about 40 people from age 20
to 40 who have Icelandic parents for a group photo. He also
wants each participant to wear a lopapeysa jumper for the
photoshoot. “Even though the jumpers are not really Icelan-
dic, they have become almost a national garment. I don’t
know that much about the patterns but it’s like a country be-
ing symbolised through a jumper. For the photograph I want
the people to be packed tightly so you only see their faces.
It’s an investigation into how similar they are” he says and
continues: “A lot of countries have huge immigration issues,
which I think is a good thing, but it also means that in a 200
years’ time what is uniquely Ethiopian or uniquely German
will be less so because there will be more infiltration of gene
pools. I think that in 200 years time it could be interesting to
look back at photographs of Icelandic people and compare
it with the future,” he concludes.
Fergal is now looking for people who want to partici-
pate in the shoot. Interested in being a model for a day? If so,
contact him via email: mccarthy.fergal@gmail.com.
Fergal is Fascinated with the icelandic loPaPeysa. he's currently looking For local models.
Investigating
The Icelander
Artist Fergal McCarthy wants YOU to pose
Dublin-based artist Fergal McCarthy is
currently staying in Reykjavík for a one-
month artist residency. Grapevine met
him at his studio, drank coffee and learnt
about his two projects that both involve
identity, myths, national character and
cultural stereotypes in Iceland.
i’M intereSted in wHat forMS a coun-
try’S cHaracter. wHy iS a certain group
of people different froM anotHer group
of people? wHat are tHe expreSSionS of
cHaracterS?
NAME:
Fergal McCarthy
OCCUPATION:
Artist
WEbSITE:
www.fergalmccarthy.ie