Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.08.2011, Qupperneq 24

24
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 12 — 2011
We asked a handful of clever people to
think about a statue of the future. Spe-
cifically, we asked, “which person, place
or thing from the twenty-first century
do you think should be made a statue
in the future? And, why?” Here’s what
they said:
SIGRíðUR ÞORGEIRSDóTTIR
Philosophy professor, University of Iceland
I always liked that LOVE-
sculpture on 6th Avenue in
New York City. It is reminis-
cent of a pop and hippie cul-
ture of love and peace in the second
half of the twentieth century. I could
imagine a variation of this theme as a
statue for the twenty-first century. This
time with the phrase: "LOVE OF THE
WORLD." This is a phrase that the phi-
losopher Hannah Arendt coined (and it
also sounds great in Latin, ‘AMOR
MUNDI’). With this phrase Arendt re-
minds us to love the world, which en-
tails caring for our society. Recent eco-
logical and financial crises display a
lack of care for the world, lack of global
justice, lack of concern for nature and
future generations. Greed and short-
term time thinking have prevailed. So
let’s begin taking seriously the need for
LOVING THE WORLD. (By the way, a
collection of essays on political philoso-
phy by Arendt was recently published in
Icelandic with the title "Af ást til heim-
sins" or "For Love of the World").
GUðMUNDUR ODDUR (GODDUR)
Artist and professor, Iceland Academy of
the Arts
Standing still is for statues.
People, places and things
are what you attach yourself
to though expressive memo-
ries, good or bad. Those who write his-
tory are the winners—namely the patri-
ots whose ubiquitous statues and
photographs, draped with f lags, serve
as official icons. The image of the su-
per-hero or Übermensch is something
that belongs to the bad past. They are
monuments from a period of depres-
sive ego-trips. The statues of the future
in my mind should surpass these local
threshold guardians and regain a col-
lective consciousness. They will be
something closer to Freyja, Thor and
Odin—something closer to sacred ge-
ometry and a deeper understanding of
our journey. The gods should stand still
like statues—the human beings must
move on.
SIGURLAUG RAGNARSDóTTIR
Art historian, wrote a master’s thesis on
statues in Reykjavík
This is a difficult question
because I believe that one
must keep in mind that
when statues are construct-
ed, they should not be thought of first
and foremost in terms of the subject,
but rather from the artist’s perspective
with the location of the statue being
part of the artist’s vision. However, if I
had to pick a particular concept, then it
would be the statue “Óþekkta mótmæ-
landanum” or “The Anonymous Pro-
testor.” In the twenty-first century, Ice-
landers learned to protest on an
international scale and to demand jus-
tice. Those voices should never be si-
lenced.

HEIðA HELGADóTTIR
Reykjavík Best Party Manager
I would like to see a statue
of Vigdís Finnbogadóttir.
She is a symbol of strength
and poise. It is a sad fact that
there are hardly any statues of women
in Reykjavík and I think that a statue of
Vigdís would be a great start.
HAUKUR VIðAR ALFREðSSON
(HAUKUR MORðINGI)
Singer and guitarist in Morðingjarnir
Bubbi Morthens should
definitely be made a statue
at some point. He is not
only a popular musician (and
has been for 30 years), but he is also a
leader to many different groups in soci-
ety—the working class, suit-wearing
yuppies, f ly fishermen, countryside
folk—Bubbi fans are everyone.
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is a given. Is
there not already a statue of her? Well…
she is the first democratically elected
female president in the world. That’s
not a small feat.
Ok, I know Jón Páll Sigmarsson is
not a twenty-first century man, but I’m
including him. He’s Iceland’s most fa-
mous strong man. He was a colourful
character who died far too young. Well,
his statue image would definitely be
nice and fit.
Björk is a must. Let’s put her in front
of Hallgrímskirkja church. The guy
who’s been there has been there long
enough. Björk in her swan dress would
be far more cool.
I don’t Fjölnir Þorgeirsson will be
made a statue, but it’s my personal sug-
gestion, a bronze statue of Fjölnir in the
middle of the Reykjavík pond, holding
a horse over his head. For real. I’m not
joking. That would be NUTS!!!
HUGLEIKUR DAGSSON
Artist, regularly contributes comics to the
Grapevine
I think we should build a gi-
ant fountain statue showing
four dead polar bears with
water squirting out of their
gunshot wounds. Red water maybe?
Food colouring doesn’t cost too much.
It would be a tasteful way of telling visi-
tors that even though we totally luuuuuv
nature, we don't hesitate to shoot it in
the face.
statUes of the fUtURe?
Words
Anna Andersen
Illustration
Búri