Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.05.2013, Side 29

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Hafnarhús
Tryggvagata 17,
101 Rvk.
Open 10-17
Thursdays 10-20
Kjarvalsstaðir
Flókagata, 105 Rvk.
Open 10-17
Ásmundarsafn
Sigtún, 105 Rvk.
May-Sept.:
Open 10-17
Okt.-Apr.:
Open 13-17
One Ticket - Three Museums
Open Daily
Guided tour in English available every Friday at
11am. in June, July and August at Kjarvalsstaðir
www.artmuseum.is
Tel: (354) 590 1200
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Reykjavík · Engjateigur 19 and Laugavegur 20b · Hafnarfjörður · Strandgata 34 · www.glo.is
This is Solla Eiriksdottir, the winner
of Best Gourmet Raw Chef and Best
Simple Raw Chef in the 2011 and
2012 “Best of Raw” Awards. Come and try out one
of her great dishes at her restaurant Gló.
Docking In Art’s Harbour
Lilja Birgisdóttir conducts an entire fleet as the
Reykjavík Art Festival sets sail
The annual Reykjavík Art Festival begins on May 17 and will
feature world-class artists and performances from both local and
international ground-breakers. Artist Lilja Birgisdóttir has the
honour of launching the festival with a performance entitled The
Vessel Orchestra, in which she will verbally conduct a band of
ship-captains using their vessels’ horns as instruments.
How did you decide to compose
a piece for ships?
I’ve been kind of obsessed with the
ocean and the culture around it for
a while. I did an exhibition at the
Galtarviti lighthouse in the West-
fjords, and the ocean was every-
where around me, and it really felt
like therapy. I realised that the ocean
helps me clear my mind and focus.
Sometimes when I’m in cities where
I can’t see water I get claustrophobic.
It’s really important to me.
What is your composition
method and how will you
act as a conductor?
Well, every ship has a horn and every
one of them has its own note. None
of them produce the same sound. So
what I do is I go record each ship-
horn, then I put them in my computer
and I compose a ship-horn piece.
Then I will conduct it using a walkie-
talkie to call on the captains to sound
their horns.
The time it takes for me to give
them direction to the time it takes to
press the button to when the horn
sounds is about three seconds, so I
have to take all these things into ac-
count. As I compose the piece, I am
writing notes, so the captains will all
have note sheets with them.
How many vessels are in
your orchestra and who
is setting it up?
I set up most of them just by walk-
ing onto the ships and asking them
directly, but I’m not yet sure how
many ships will actually be involved.
So I can’t finish the composition yet!
[Laughs loudly] There will be ships
from all over the harbour though,
and there will also be one or two
boats coming from Ísafjörður to per-
form in it.
That sounds complicated.
Are you stressed about
how it will all work out?
No, because I’ve actually done this
piece before. After I graduated from
the Iceland Academy of the Arts in
2010, I did this piece for a perfor-
mance-focused art festival called
Villa Reykjavík. This will of course
be a new song with new “band-
members,” but I’m feeling confident.
I’m also really happy because Úlfur
Hansson is going to help me with the
composition and with all the techni-
cal stuff.
How do you hope the final
composition will sound?
The ship horns are grand and melan-
cholic. It was really powerful the last
time I did it. I got many emails and
calls from people who were really
touched. I think it’s because a lot of
people feel connected with the har-
bour life. The sound of the ship horn
has so much history in itself. I want
to create a grandiose piece that the
audience will remember. That would
be my dream.
What have you most enjoyed
about doing this piece?
I like the three-dimensional feel of it
because some of the ships are very
close and others are really far away.
That’s really important for me, that
the whole harbour is taking part in it.
I think it’s the best project I’ve done
and it’s so much fun. It’s amazing to
work with all the captains and sailors
and I’m so honoured that they want
to work with me. It feels so powerful.
I’m like this small, little girl leading
these gigantic ships and their cap-
tains! - Rebecca Louder
Art
17
MAY
– 2
JUNE
Visit www.listahatid.is to see
the full programme of events.
Photo: Rebecca Louder
“I’m
like this
small, little girl
leading these
gigantic ships
and their cap-
tains!”
The Vessel Orchestra takes place on May 17 at 17:45 at Brimshúsið.
It is free but can be heard from all over the city.