Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.06.2013, Síða 29

Chalk Talk
Operation Creed hits 101, visions
in mind, chalk in hands
Operation Creed is one of nine Summer Creative Groups sponsored
by Hitt Húsið this summer. Be on the lookout for spontaneous
musical acts, art installations, and theatre performances!
Ólöf Stefánsdóttir is one third of the team behind a Hitt Húsið sponsored Cre-
ative Summer Group. Along with Áugústa Sveinsdóttir and Magnús Dagur
Sævarsson, the trio is taking to the streets of Reykjavík this summer to brighten
its grey concrete with colourful chalk and three-dimensional illusions.
The idea was inspired by a trip to India that Ágústa made three years ago.
She was struck by a colourful nuance of the local culture in the form of flowers
drawn in chalk that greet arriving and departing visitors to homes and busi-
nesses." It gave you something pleasant to look at, despite the state of the
run-down surroundings," Ólöf relays to me that Friday, as she wipes the blue
outline of a stove off of the side of the Landsbanki wall.
Their project, Operation Creed (a play on the Icelandic word 'krít' which
means 'chalk'), is one of nine Creative Summer Groups, sponsored by the cul-
tural centre Hitt Húsið. As participants, the young artists are provided a regular
salary for eight weeks of the summer to take a break from their day jobs and
focus on creating art. "People say to us, that's stupid, or that's strange that you
are getting paid to go out and draw with chalk on the streets" Ólöf says, "but
it really adds something to the day. A couple stopped by today on their way to
the airport and sat down for a waffle. It was such a nice good-bye meal! It just
adds a little colour to the day that otherwise wouldn't exist."
While some are put off by the spontaneous creative use of public space, like
the bank whose outer wall was transformed into a temporary kitchen, most re-
ceive the group pleasantly. "It's cool to see how everybody relates to our work"
Ólöf says. "The tourists were most fun, they are really willing to sit down and
participate. The Icelanders, they're a little shyer. They just take a picture and
run off," she laughs.
And it doesn't end with waffles, which is just the first of a number of oth-
er chalk-based ideas. On June 17, for instance, they hit the front walkway of
Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík with chalk embroidery. And in the weeks to come
they want to start experimenting with 3-dimensional structures and projec-
tions, anything that will surprise the pedestrian and make them look twice. "We
want to pick places that people visit regularly, on typically boring occasions,
and make it a destination," Ólöf says. And that's really what this project, and
all of the Summer Creative Groups, is about: injecting some colour (or some
music, or some theatre) into the day of the unsuspecting passer-by.
- Parker Yamasaki
29
A Gourmet Experience
- Steaks and Style at Argentina Steakhouse
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Art
On June 14, I walk down a misty Austurstræti to get my
daily skyr from 10-11. The sky is overcast, there is a couple
smoking cigarettes on the front step that I squeeze by, a cat
crosses the road. There’s nothing to pull me out of my work-
day daze. That is, until I round the corner to Pósthússtræti
and something catches my attention: a full kitchen, a dining
room table complete with stools and flowers, and a cake
stand full of waffles and cream. The setup is right in the
middle of the sidewalk, everything but the waffles drawn
with chalk. Pleasantly surprised, I stop by for a bite and a
chat with the creator of the street side kitchen.
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