Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.06.2013, Page 33

core in an artist, I think the national
is a fiction or a script, one of many,
that an artist can choose to take on,
a role to be performed like in a play.
But I am interested in writing my
own script. And I honestly believe
that those who commissioned me
to go to Venice this year expected
just that.
A problematic
approach to art
Leaving aside the question of
nationality, do you see your
shows at popular forums like
the Biennale or the Metro-
politan as a chance to expand
the reach of your dialogue, to
present your ideas to a greater
crowd?
That’s how I think of every show.
I don't discriminate an audience,
whether they are one of ten who
see a show or one of 100,000. Ev-
ery viewer is equally important. In
terms of the establishment, each
venue offers specific opportuni-
ties, but I am primarily interested
in the socio-political aspect of
what these could be. I did two solo
shows in 2010, one at The Metro-
politan Museum of Art in New York
and then another at a gallery called
The Suburban, which is basically
a 20 square foot shed in a Chicago
suburb. Its a nice coincident to get
to do these two shows in the same
year. Of course the context and
reach of the two is different, but I
was as serious about the work I pre-
sented at both venues.
The opposite would be a prob-
lematic approach to art, to some-
how theme and conceptualize your
approach based on your audience.
If you work in advertising you de-
fine and consider your target audi-
ence, but as an artist? As an artist, I
am not in the business of manipulat-
ing experiences; I just want to make
my work, as part of my own inquiry,
not with a set outcome or effect.
And people approach it and take
from it what they want, but accord-
ing to their own interests, experi-
ences and perceptions. It is true that
in each viewer there is the love for
being manipulated, overpowered
by a seductive experience. But I like
to try to appeal to a different part of
the viewer, where he or she is free.
That's of course a much harder job
for the viewer, but hopefully it’s
sometimes appreciated.
Your art is then something the
viewer approaches on her own
terms, it should be thought of
as building blocks or seeds of
thought rather than a planned,
structured experience?
That to me is the creative process—
it’s what distinguishes the creative
process from showmanship.
When I make my art, the view-
ers’ reaction is not my premise or
objective. It is always to continue
my own enquiry, and to preserve
my relationship with my work.
What happens once a project is
complete is not something that I try
to control. At that point, the rela-
tionship is between the work and
viewer. Up until then, the work is
mine and the relationship with the
work is mine—after completion I let
it go. I don’t want this to come off
as if I don’t care about the viewer. I
care about the viewer. I don’t want
to harm the viewer, and I don’t set
out to offend the viewer, but I also
don’t set out to please the viewer.
Again, I am not in the business of
creating experiences. At this point
the work is its own being.
And you have no intention as
to what it ultimately leaves
people with?
I think it would be pretentious to
say that I can’t guess what people
might take from the work. It’s not
an entirely blind procedure. But I
don't try to control it.
Everyone has a different rela-
tionship with art and uses it in dif-
ferent ways and to different means.
The question of purpose and intent
is enduring and relevant. Art can
serve so many different purposes,
and the conversation about these
possibilities continues. And our
answers will continue to change,
reflecting our world at each time in
history, as it has until now.
33
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.
3 m/s - electricity generation begins 15 m/s 28 m/s 34 m/s - turbine shutdownOptimal conditions for electricity generation
Into the wind
Visitors are welcome to the interactive exhibition on renewable
energy at Búrfell hydropower station, a 90 minute drive from
Reykjavik. North of the station you will find Landsvirkjun’s
first wind turbines, part of our research into the possibilities
of wind farming in Iceland.
Landsvirkjun is the National Power Company of Iceland.
Open daily, June-August, 10 am to 5 pm:
Búrfell Hydro Power Station
Interactive exhibition on renewable energy
Fljótsdalur Hydro Power Station
Végardur Visitor Centre
Krafla Geothermal Station
Visitor Centre
More info and route instructions at
www.landsvirkjun.com/visitus
“If you work in
advertising you
define and con-
sider your target
audience, but as
an artist? As an
artist, I am not
in the business
of manipulat-
ing experiences;
I just want to
make my work,
as part of my
own inquiry, not
with a set out-
come or effect.”