Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.01.2010, Blaðsíða 28

The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 01 — 2010
28
Art | Interview
-2009 was a year of great
transformation for Icelandic society
and has been called the year of
waiting and the year of great
disappointment, where people built
hopes of certain societal changes
that were impending, and that have
yet to appear at the time of writing.
In the field of visual arts, a lot of
fermentation took place, manifestos
were released, exhibitions were
thrown and all the festivals went
on even though support from both
private and public sectors was cut
back considerably. For the field
we are here to discuss, one could
say it needed to consider a new
reality, demands of renewal and
reconsideration. Is this assumption
correct?
birta Guðjónsdóttir: Yes, very
much so, since an idea still exists
that the arts should somehow
“precede the present” – that it is
obligated to save the world via
preventive measures, anticipating
events and responding to them
before they happen.
I experience 2009 as an
introspection year for the arts – and
not just in Iceland – with questions
if artists could have announced
doomsday sooner...
Haraldur Jónsson: I think this
has been a year of intermission
or of waiting, a year where the
Icelandic nation suffered a nervous
breakdown and experienced the
numbness that follows. As if that
weren’t enough, The Living Art
Museum was closed for studies and
re-organisation for most of the year,
and so was Kling & Bang.
But what happened? The
saucepan revolution, that was maybe
artistically speaking the biggest
visual art installation, a regular
Wagnerian Gesamtkunstwerk that
provided images that are branded
into our consciousness by now, like
the Oslo tree being brought down
and burned. In symbolic terms, it
was like our very own 9/11, a very
iconic course of events that had
many visual aspects.
THE ARTIST OF 2009
bG: Another thing I feel relevant
in this context is when Goddur,
Guðmundur Oddur, provided
a quick analysis of the visual
symbolism that many protestors
used, the symbolism of the
anarchists that marched under
black f lags and covered their faces.
Many novel concepts and ideas
were introduced to the nation in a
relatively short time.
HJ: Discourse around the arts and
their connection with our so-called
reality got a big push with entities
such as [on-line magazine] Nei. and
others, a certain interactivity was
introduced. The entire revolution,
its aftermath and the events leading
up to it could be viewed as grand
installation and happening. These
were some key factors one was very
aware of throughout the year, as well
as dragging around remnants of the
boom years – the under-construction
Music Hall is an example.
Speaking of Goddur’s analysis
and his lecture at Hafnarhús, I felt
that it was perhaps jumping the gun.
It is odd to analyse an event as it is
happening.
BG: Indeed, it is odd, but in a way it
was also a case of striking the iron
while it’s hot. I think it was very
positive. One can assume that, say,
artists or anthropologist that have
studied history know these symbols,
but the public does not and one
sensed in conversation that people
were thankful for the insight, while
local history was being created.
As for the saucepan revolution
and its symbolism; the acts of
destruction and vandalism had an
interesting way of escalating, from
being playful-slash-serious at first,
ultimately reaching a plateau that
produced what I think are some of
the best artworks of 2009; the paint
that was spattered over banksters’
houses. It was like a test, crossing
the threshold of destruction, a
primal scream.
-Is Skapofsi, the activist group
that declared responsibility, then
collectively the artist of the year?
bG: I suppose so, for the risk
of sounding totally banal. Such
happenings – the paint spatter,
the voting booth defecator – they
may be interpreted in an artistic
context, and they do evoke some
very interesting thoughts if you
approach them in that manner. They
are moving and defy convention
and definition; they aren’t strictly
political acts, nor are they strictly
works of art – they are both and
they are neither. Maybe these are
the most interesting ways in which
art and daily life collided in 2009?
The acts are certainly provoking,
and they force ones inner rebel into
dialogue with ones sense of morality
and anger, and curiosity.
A part of what is interesting to
me about the new level of activism
in Iceland is the discussion it evokes
about the crossing of the private/
public threshold. It is interesting
that at the same time the personal
space of the bankers was violated
against with paparazzi photos in
gossip magazines such as Séð og
Heyrt, they can now not be touched.
bETTERING REYKJAVÍK
-How about the field of art itself.
What significant things went on in
2009?
BG: I feel it was a year of art
festivals, so to speak. It displayed
thoroughly that people prefer a
diverse range of culture, and the
times of one or two festivals being
able to serve everyone are behind
us. I remember a time when one
could have attended every concert,
theatrical performance and art
exhibition in Reykjavík – this is now
impossible and I think that this
contributes to a better quality of life.
One festival I was really
impressed with was the ArtFart
festival; many of the participants are
newly graduates from art school and
some of them are still studying. It is
a very cross-disciplinary festival that
displays the works of people that
have in many instances explored
different regions than the market-
arts inhabit. It was an exciting
festival.
HJ: As for stand-alone exhibitions,
I greatly enjoyed the fact that
Ásmundur Ásmundsson displayed
his hole at Hafnarhús during the
middle of the revolution. The piece
was a very in your face manifestation
of the turmoil we were experiencing,
it was a turd on the base of the
bubble years. He dug a deep hole in
Klambratún, filled it with concrete
and displayed the negative, the hole
of the bubble – a hole in the soul of
the nation. The timing was great,
too.
BG: A pretty geeky thing that
stood out and felt important to me
regarding the arts was that our new
Minister of Education changed the
name of the ministry to ‘Ministry
of Education and Culture’. I felt that
was important and symbolic for a
nation that is in part characterised
by its culture and national heritage.
There were lots of things
that stood out. I also liked the
attitude presented in festivals like
Sequences, where all emphasis was
put on keeping up spirits and energy
with ambition and diligence – an
urgency to create a bridge between
the local and international scene in
the field of time based arts.
HJ: Indeed. Sequences managed
to bring over international talent
despite the situation over here
and the whole program seemed
very energetic, even though I only
witnessed a small part of it. There
was less money, yet more drive
somehow. Almost an Airwaves-feel
to it.
bG: Then there are some things
that come to mind because of my
various practices in the field. Such
as the fact that there was a whole
lot of debate coupled with very little
actual knowledge on the writing and
publishing of a five volume tome
on the history of Icelandic art in the
20th century. The discourse has all
happened in small cells while very
little information is trickling out
from the institution that is behind
the book, The National Gallery of
Iceland, and its writers and editors.
HJ: They initially presented the
project saying that there was to
be a symposium regarding how
to approach our art of the 20th
century, where each volume’s editor
would answer questions and engage
in a dialogue with the artistic
community. That did not happen
– it seems the work happened in a
tomb, that it is shrouded in secrecy
and silence. It’s funny to think that
writing of Icelandic art history in
the 20th century is being performed
in a similar way to the investigation
in the bank collapse.
In my opinion, this must be some
sort of anachronism.

A LAcK OF EDUcATION
-For the general public, arts
discourse maybe became most
conspicuous in two cases in 2009;
the discussion led by Ásmundur
Ásmundsson and others about artists
and the arts being in need of critical
introspection in light of the bubble
years and subsequent collapse,
and then the outrage over Ragnar
Kjartansson’s trip to the Venice
Biennale, which garnered objections
for being a ritzy and expensive act
in harsh times, sponsoring an artist
to “drink beer and smoke cigarettes
for six months.” A lot was written on
both subjects...
BG: Well, these are valid questions
and topics of discussion, just like
anything else our tax money goes
towards, but also because it is the
first time in a while that the public
in Iceland pays attention to such
events as the Biennale and our
contribution.
When Ragnar’s work was being
criticized in media, we could have
done with the press treating it like
it does every other case, where
one point of view is presented
and then the opposite one. There
is something vital missing in
Icelanders’ basic art education that
made it hard for some to understand
what Ragnar was trying to do, and
there was a lack of interest among
the media in presenting every side
to the story.
HJ: It’s a good thing Ragnar’s
model was wearing a Speedo – I’d
hate to imagine the local talk if
he’d been posing naked for six
months. It seems Icelanders have
some strange conceptions of art – to
many of them; it’s confined to being
a painting in a frame. I’ve never
painted anything, and then I’ve had
folks coming to my shows asking
where the paintings are. Ragnar’s
statement will fortunately cause a
lot of controversy, while something
like Yoko Ono’s Peace Tower gets
everyone ecstatic. To me, this
brings some really troubling and
interesting ramifications.
Could you name some highs
and lows for 2009 regarding the
artworld?
HJ: To me, it actually starts when
the cables from Channel 2 were
cut by f lames during the Kryddsíld
broadcast on December 31st 2008,
that was a crucial and historical
rupture between media reality and
the actual situation in the country.
Those first stirs of the saucepan
revolution, where the melting
pot started boiling together a big
Gesamtkunstwerk. This was a
huge artistic experience all over
downtown Reykjavík, with f lames
burning bright in every corner.
There were some illuminating
sparks during the year, but still the
atmosphere was rather static. 2009
was the year of the countdown.
bG: I feel it was a year of
undercurrent, of undertow, a
year of preparation for the arts,
were drafts were being made and
foundations were being laid... I
have no idea what; maybe they’re
no masterpieces. There was an
undercurrent though. It wasn’t a
very eventful year in the artworld...
To me there isn’t one particular
exhibition/event that sticks out.
HJ: No, that’s true. A stone cold
estimate doesn’t bring up any
revolutions in the artworld.
-One final question. Say you
encounter a time traveller five years
ago that tells you of his plans to visit
2009. He wants to check out some
nice shows. Where do you tell him
to go?
bG: Uhm...
HJ: Well...
-Alright, let’s say a foreign friend
had written you a letter last year.
He’s coming to visit, and he has time
to see one exhibition. He’s really
depending on your advice...
bG: Well, I might take him to the
monster exhibition in Bíldudalur...
HJ: I would take him for a swim in
the ocean, and then to Austurvöllur,
to engage in some refreshing
Icelandic protesting.
bG: There were no major
breakthroughs in the arts this year.
Although some artists undoubtedly
made personal breakthroughs. This
year was more like lava bubbling
under the volcano.
A Year Of Waiting, Undercurrent,
Countdown, Festivals And No Revolution
The Grapevine somehow managed to convince two of its favourite people from the local artworld
– prominent artist Haraldur Jónsson and fellow prominent artist-slash-Living Art Museum director
Birta Guðjónsdóttir – to engage in discussion about Icelandic arts in the year 2009. The following is
a very abridged account of their discussion.
The 2009 artworld discussed, somewhat
HAUKUR S MAGNÚSSON
JULIA STAPLES
2009: Art Learn more about the artists at www.this.is/comet and www.this.is/birta