Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.03.2009, Side 30

30 | REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 3—2009
The only thing lower than the
standard of this ad ...
... the price of a Sixt Rent a Car.
(Book at www.sixt.is, call 540 2222 or contact your Hotel reception.)
CulTuRE By ricHArd PAUl FOlEy — PHOTO By Jói kJArTANS
As part of the Northern Lights Festival, the Nor-
dic House has been hosting the group exhibition
“Ipseity- Abeyance”. The exhibition is one of the
first artistic ventures to express the crisis. The ex-
hibition’s curator and photographer, Julia Staples,
chose to focus on photography, stating that the “il-
lustrative qualities of photography go together well
with representing the crisis.” One recurring theme
throughout the show is the choice of portraying the
real estate industry so as to reflect upon what has
occurred from the economic crisis, as real estate is
always a strong indicator of the financial situation
in any country.
As I walked through the space and browsed
the pamphlet provided, I noticed an article es-
pousing photographer Guðmundur Ingólfsson’s
feelings about photography. He told of how the
art-form had received a lowered status throughout
his career and the struggle for employment that
photographers encounter. It became apparent that
the choice of photography was possibly the most
appropriate for expressing the crisis. For me, the
show truly engaged itself in demonstrating aspects
of the situation with realism, subtlety and pathos.
Hence, I wanted to try to articulate a few of the art-
ist’s works that conveyed these feelings.
GuðmuNDuR INGólfSSON
Upon entering the exhibition, the first artist’s work
on view was that of the aforementioned Guðmundur
Ingólfsson, a renowned photographer of Iceland. In-
gólfsson presented a contrast of two photographic
series. Firstly, was a modern day reflection on the
harbour area in Reykjavík, where a lot of ambitious
building plans have been undertaken and sadly halt-
ed. The photographs depict large industrial cranes
in the skyline, said to symbolise the economic land-
scape of the depression. The work remained bright
and optimistic in its summer setting, compared
to the second series “Stories From the Last War”.
This older set of black and white imagery
shows the demolition of old, unused buildings that
existed in Reykjavík, such as the Pravda Club bar.
Today, all buildings seem to hold question marks
over their heads. As the title implies, these are “Sto-
ries From the Last War”, but we are already antici-
pating the next battle.
NICO muHly
An American composer, who by chance became in-
volved in the exhibition, was invited after his video
collaboration with the DVD magazine, Rafskinna.
The live performance was composed specifically
for the incomplete city Music Hall. Muhly asked
Helgi Hrafn Jónsson to perform on the trombone
for its acoustical quality in testing a space—even
though the roof was still missing, as he points out.
The music seemed to produce an unnerving reiter-
ation of the first verse, creating a stuttering tension
that constantly began again and again, with short
stints of other compositions but never building to a
crescendo. In this way it managed to convey some-
thing of the emotions of the building. Nico Muhly’s
comment that this “might be the first and only per-
formance” performed in the Music Hall made the
moment even more sentimental.

ipseity-abeyance
A Look Through The Lenses And Into The Crisis
NOBODY PUTS JULIA STAPLES IN THE CORNER
INGVAR HöGNI RAGNARSSON
A side room holds Ingivar Högni Ragnarsson’s pho-
tographic installation series “Waiting”. The empti-
ness of the work appears to be a stern realisation
that all has been deserted in pursuit of better days.
The presence of people is suggested throughout
each picture but never seen: car tracks in the snow,
tyre marks on a vacant road. The curious aspect
of the work is the concept of static time, a mo-
ment caught in anticipation. “Waiting” evokes the
sense that something is about to happen or just
has, reflecting the tense atmosphere of the crisis.
The images are motionless, in wonder of what is to
come: who will fill the empty car parks and occupy
houses? What will happen if left un-built and doc-
ile? From an aesthetic viewpoint the photographer
has captured a sense of the melancholic beauty of
the Icelandic landscape, reflected in the dull greys
and silence. His symmetrical angles in the work
convey a dramatic impression on the viewer’s natu-
ral sense of composition, placing the work as one
of the more technically ambitious.
julIA STAplES
Photographer Julia Staples works directly with the
issues imposed on people throughout the crisis.
Two intriguing works produced for the exhibition
are a smaller series, entitled “Breiðholt, Iceland”
and “Looking Through An Unfinished House in
Norðlingaholt”. “Breiðholt, Iceland” depicts the
housing blocks of Breidholt – which legend has it
is a notoriously deprived part of Reykjavík with a
high concentration of immigrants.
What struck me regarding this series were its
vibrant colours, instinctively drawing me to view
them. Inspecting the images further, I noticed they
were small entrance doors to a housing block,
placed in numerical order. The systematic order
seemed to express ideas of populace statistics
and the categorization of people into a number;
in this context, it almost appeared like a list of un-
employed families receiving benefits in each apart-
ment. I began to wonder what the impact of the cri-
sis would have here. Would the people of Breiðholt
be the first to experience the repercussions of the
economic change? If most immigrants emigrate
home, will these apartments become barren or be
over filled because the housing crash? Just how bad
could it get? All these questions posed by the work
were inevitably unanswerable. “Looking Through
An Unfinished House in Norðlingaholt” seems to
portray more hope. The images were printed so
that the frame mimicked the windows of the house.
Most of the window views were set onto a pictur-
esque landscape, contrasting the pathos between
the tragic financial restrictions preventing a family
for living there, and the hope that one day they will
enjoy these views when the economic crisis will be
over.
On the most part the exhibition was a conflict
between anxiety and optimistic aspirations both
connecting to the current atmosphere of the crisis,
which makes the work a successful re-enactment
of what has been felt throughout this historical pe-
riod.
The Nordic House
Sturlugötu 5
101 Reykjavík
www.nordice.is
The exhibition will be open till March 9.
DESIGN
Although Iceland is currently bankrupt, the bombastic
local art festivals that are still peaking, such as Iceland
Airwaves, Culture Night and Reykjavik International
Film Festival, have shown that we’re undeniably only
broke on money. This March the missing link to the
otherwise bulletproof festival chain will be intro-
duced: a grassroots design festival.
A lONG-WEEKEND DESIGN pARTy
When Grapevine heard of this we immediately caught
up with the alleged operator of the festival, Greipur
Gíslason, down at the Icelandic Design Centre. Gísla-
son emphasized from the very beginning the he was in
no understanding a “front” of the festival, but a hum-
ble servant behind the curtains. “From March 26th the
29th there will be a gigantic design party all around
town, and every empty window in the midtown area
will be filled with design goods,” Gíslason explained.
He stressed that although the festival consists mostly
of unknown designers showing their work in small
boutiques, there will also a few bigger names attend-
ing and commercial malls Kringlan and Smáralind
participate.
DEbuNKING THE COmmERCIAl fACTOR
But where did the idea come from? Grapevine found
out that in previous years a similar festival bearing the
name “Design Days” had been thrown a few times,
but with a totally different format. The venue wasn’t
various boutiques and cafés around the city, but in-
stead the gigantic sport hall Laugardalshöll. So you
could say they’re debunking the commercial factor
this time and the festival’s morphing into a replica of
Iceland Airwaves and Culture Night. And if it’s being
categorised with festivals such as the aforementioned,
the foreign press must follow. Gíslason cleared that
up: “We’re expecting about 30 foreign journalists and
photographers, so it sure will be crowded!”. And who
knows, maybe DesignMarch will obtain a status as the
coolest long-weekend design festival on the annual
calendar?
CuSTOm mADE pAVIlION
There are a few Icelandic expats returning home for
the event, one of those is Arnaldur Schram, an accom-
plished architect stationed in New York City. His plan
is to build a pavilion in Reykjavík Sheriff’s Garden,
solely made of aluminum plates, cut using laser tech-
nique. At first sight this seems to be quite an expensive
project but Arnaldur explained that both Geislatækni
and SindraStál, who produce and cut the aluminum,
donated their work and products, “I was simply flab-
bergasted when it went through, and without their
generous donations this wouldn’t have been possible.
The building itself will be completely custom
made, i.e. no piece will be identical. So it really is a
mixture between a gazebo and a sculpture.” Arnaldur
is looking for volunteers; so whether you’re a student
or unemployed, contact the Icelandic Design Centre if
you want to lend a hand.
The festival's schedule will be diverse and it
offers events such as lectures on design and architec-
ture, graphic and industrial design exhibition, movie
screenings and guided tours.

More info at www.icelandicdesign.is
DesignMarch
By SiGUrÐUr kJArTAN kriSTiNSSON
Our Very Own
Design Extravaganza