Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.11.2011, Blaðsíða 30

30
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 17 — 2011
literature | Commerce
Útúrdúr is a really cool indie bookstore. Having such stores around is nice and it enriches
downtown life. Frequent that place and keep them in business. Or you might see it turn into
yet another puffin store.
Mountaineers of Iceland • Skútuvogur 12E • 104 Reykjavík • Iceland
Telephone: +354 580 9900 Ice@mountaineers.is • www.mountaineers.is • www. activity.is
SUPER JEEP & SNOWMOBILE TOURS
Iceland has a long and proud his-
tory of political bookstores and
publishers. The most prominent of
these is Mál og menning, which was
founded as a communist publishing
company in the 1930s and opened
its bookstore on laugavegur al-
most exactly fifty years ago. like
most idealistic endeavours, Mál
og menning drifted away from its
roots and was devoured by capital-
ism. The existing store is currently
owned by a bank and the publish-
ing house only exists as an imprint
within a larger company.
So it falls on a new breed of idealists
to start a new bookstore and publishing
house. Útúrdúr, located at Hverfisgata
42, is exactly that kind of operation. It
was not a surprise to find a well-worn
copy of the Occupy Wall Street Journal
on a table in the part of the store where
customers can sit and read. In fact,
Ingvar Högni Ragnarsson and Bryndís
Björnsdóttir, who run the store, have
just returned from New York, where
they joined the protesters in Zuccotti
Park, even attending the occupation's
General Assembly. "It was open to each
and everyone who came there," says
Bryndís, "we as tourists became par-
ticipants in the society that had formed
there and took part in community
meetings, discussing security issues."
But they did not go to New York just
to experience the protest. The reason
they were there was to attend the New
York Art Book Fair, to buy books from
some of the roughly 200 vendors hawk-
ing their wares. "It was interesting to
get an overview of the whole scene,"
says Ingvar, "we met with the older
retailers and publishers, like Boekie
Woekie, Franklin Furnace and oth-
ers. We got to see how they have set
themselves within a certain frame and
how the newer publishers were going
a different route. It was also interesting
finally meet colleagues face to face we
had been communicating electronically
with for years."
"A MEDIUM FOR CONTENT"
Útúrdúr is part of a network of indepen-
dent publishers that specialise in radi-
cal political works, avant-garde art and
literature, and sociocritical philosophy.
Útúrdúr has been a going concern since
2007, when it was founded by six visual
artists. The store has pinballed around
downtown Reykjavík since then, relo-
cating to Hverfisgata 42 in May of this
year. Until now they have specialised in
art books, but are currently moving in a
new direction.
Bryndís and Ingvar came into the
organisation in 2009. After years of
groundwork, the first book was pub-
lished in the spring of 2010, and three
others have come out since. But the
publishing arm is expanding greatly
and they want to release more books.
Not that they have been slacking off,
but the books they have been publish-
ing have required a lot of work. ‘Music—
A Thought Instigator’ by Páll Ívan frá
Eiðum, the newest book, took two years
to get ready for publication," says Bryn-
dís, "often the focus has been on the
print job and the book as an object, but
what we would rather involve ourselves
in the mediation of content."
"That has been our slow and steady
evolution as publishers," says Ingvar,
"our first book required a large print
run to be cost effective, but then the
next book was small and cheap to
make, and for the customer, and with
that book we found we could sell out
each printing and have enough for the
next one. That is how we want to work."
"We want to remove ourselves from the
fetishisation of the book and approach
it as a medium." says Bryndís. Ingvar
agrees: "It is of no importance whether
we use the most beautiful paper stock,
the most expensive ink, hard covers or
whatever." Bryndís adds: "The store
was founded to sell artist's books but
that emphasis has become a burden.
The original intent of that was exactly
to take the artwork off its pedestal,
but now it is about unique books with
unique auras. We would rather break
away from that and simply be a medium
for content."
"WE lET OURSElVES EVOlVE"
But how does Útúrdúr function? "It is
a collective of all sorts of people who
join together under one name," says In-
gvar. "We are still finding our way," says
Bryndís, "all of us are thinking along the
same lines and we want to find com-
mon ground so that we can all cooper-
ate. We want to create a structure with-
in which all can prosper and everyone
will aid each other." Various sub-units
have formed, including a poetry-team
and a group of anarchists. Among the
people who will be published in the
coming months are poet and journal-
ist Jón Bjarki Magnússon (interviewed
elsewhere this issue) whose debut
book of poems is called ‘Lömbin í Kam-
bódíu og þú’ (“The Lambs Of Cambodia
And You”) and political activist Haukur
Hilmarsson, who is putting out a book
based on a speech he gave in support
of Kenyan asylum seeker Paul Ramses.
Which raises the question of who
can publish with Útúrdúr? "People
who come into the organisation and
want to publish something," says In-
gvar, "though we will not quite release
everything. If some Nazi wanted to put
out his propaganda, that would not be
possible. No fascism, that is the only
rule we have." But how else do they
describe their politics? "By defining
ourselves against fascism, we open
ourselves to all other ideologies and
opinions," replies Bryndís, "but the
material we have been getting into the
store, from Semiotext(e), Autonomedia
and Siggi Pönk [of anarchist publisher
Andspyrna] has a certain slant, and
we cannot deny that either. We let our-
selves evolve along with what we have
in the store. Break free of any strict lim-
its."
"Considering what Icelandic soci-
ety has gone through in recent years,"
adds Ingvar, "material of this kind must
be accessible and visible. Also, you do
not have to visit us only to purchase
something; you can use it like a library.
You can come here, read a book, drink
coffee, and then leave."
"This is run like a non-profit," says
Ingvar, "every bit of money that comes
in is used to put something out. Útúrdúr
is a self-owned company." Does anyone
work for Útúrdúr? "Everyone is a volun-
teer," says Bryndís, "as of now, though
it is evolving and could change." The
two of them trade off being in the store
when it is open, which is Tuesdays to
Saturdays 12–6pm. They often have
events at night as well. You can send
them an e-mail, uturdur@gmail.com,
and they will put you on the mailing list.
The store has more than just artist's
books, radical texts and avant-garde
literature. The selection is small but
wide, running from zines to books from
mainstream publishers like Taschen
and even Penguin. The latest copies of
The Believer and Wholphin are also on
sale. Please visit this lovely indepen-
dent bookstore. They have books you
will not find elsewhere in Reykjavík and
you can even read them for free. And
they will welcome your patronage, of
course.
"No Fascism, That Is the Only Rule"
How a small, independent bookstore has evolved into a publisher of artist's books, radical politics and progressive poetry
KÁRI TUlINIUS
INGVAR HÖGNI RAGNARSSON
In Memoriam:
KEx SPECIAl
Those whom the gods love, it
is said, die young. But when
the deceased is your favourite
beer, the pain is especially hard
to bear.
Kex Special, the luscious lemony ale
that—at least for a time—lightened both
hearts and wallets at the bar of the Kex
Hostel on Skúlagata, is no more. It leaves
to mourn a thirsting throng of the nation´s
night revellers who had come to appreciate
its buoyant bonhomie, its brightening force
of persuasion over whatever darkening
clouds might lower upon their houses in the
gathering gloom that precedes an Icelandic
winter.
So what if you had to walk a bit further
to hold company with your boon compan-
ion? It all seemed worthwhile when your
stumble home became a glorious if sloppy
slalom between the Laugavegur lamp posts
and improvised shop-doorway urinals up
Skólavörðustígur.
Often dismissed as a light summer
blonde, Kex Special was no fair-weather
friend. Smooth and debonair, it showed up
its more gassy tap-mates for the boorish,
burp-inducing bumpkins they were. Plead-
ing its good intentions with ever greater
ease as the night wore on, Kex Special slid
down the throat with a silken ease that
made it seem like liquid lingerie.
While not a ´philosophical´ beer as
such, few were those whose mood was not
brightened by its enlivening influence. And
it made friends easily, especially in the mu-
sic and film industries.
Saga Films cameraman and indepen-
dent director Gunnar B. Guðbjörnsson has
been sleepless since he heard the news,
while his co-director Bowen Staines pined
wistfully: “I can’t remember how many eve-
nings we spent together, Kex Special and I
… honestly, I can’t remember.”
It was all things to all men. Its fruiti-
ness made it the savoury swallow of Helgi
Valur and the She-Males, its indomitable
strength of spirit the gleeful gulp of Mugi-
son and Megas.
But Kex Special was more than just a
good beer. It was a good friend.
It was the one you could count on to
come foaming to your rescue when you
needed a glass to cry in because your girl-
friend dumped you—or worse, your team
lost in the finals.
Under the spell of its enhanced alcohol-
ic content you knew that women were help-
less to resist your charms. After a glass or
two, your reflection in the men´s room mir-
ror told you that you had the boyish good
looks of both Friðrik Dór and MC Gauti,
with Erpur’s swag and flow, to boot.
And Kex Special got the job done at
closing time, too, sparking every coy jóm-
frú to marvel at how Time’s winged chariot
was hurrying near, and so jump into the
arms of the first tóbaksklútur-clad galant to
murmur into her ear that the night was still
young, and she was still beautiful.
The staggering loss of this alcoholic
asset to the hook-up generation is hard to
even estimate. Already, the rating agencies
are threatening a downgrade in the expect-
ed birthrate after its premature withdrawal
from the market.
A parched and panting nation awaits its
return …
Beer | Donald Gíslason