Reykjavík Grapevine - 23.05.2014, Qupperneq 57

Earlier this year, artist Ragnar Kjartansson and composer
Kjartan Sveinsson put on a particularly subversive pro-
duction at Berlin’s Volksbühne theatre. At one of the most
avant-garde theatres in Europe, they staged a grandiose
60-minute performance involving giant Romantic-style
tableaus along with music for a 40-piece orchestra and
16-piece choir. With no actors or storyline to speak of, its
only aim was to be beautiful.
The
Exception
That Proves
The Rule
The dynamic duo, Ragnar Kjartansson
and Kjartan Sveinsson, bring
‘Der Klang der Offenbarung des Göttlichen’
to Reykjavík
Words by Anna Andersen
Photo by Nanna Dís
As they are now preparing to show
this piece—‘Der Klang der Offenba-
rung des Göttlichen,’ or “The Explo-
sive Sonics of Divinity”—at Reykjavík’s
Borgarleikhúsið, a theatre that could
not be more different from the Volks-
bühne, we were curious to learn more.
“Maybe it is more obvious in Berlin, but
I know the piece is going to work,” Rag-
nar assures me over coffee as we await
Kjartan’s arrival. “Doing something
beautiful in the Volksbühne is different
from doing something like that in Iceland,
where it won’t be so banal, but our modern
time also has this element of deconstruc-
tion, so someone in Reykjavík could look
at it in that context, or simply enjoy it as a
beautiful evening.”
Although Kjartan has a slightly dif-
ferent take, it soon becomes apparent
through our conversation that they are on
the same page about most things. “We’ve
known each other for a long time and
we’ve always had these artistic conver-
sations,” Ragnar says, explaining how he
came to work with the former member of
Sigur Rós. “We’ve been working in differ-
ent corners all these years, but we’ve al-
ways discussed what we were doing, and
I’ve been very inspired by Kjartan and his
band’s music.”
What follows is a condensed version
of our meandering conversation, in which
Ragnar blames Kjartan and his music
for the Progressive Party’s triumph in the
latest parliamentary elections, and Kjar-
tan suggests that Ragnar’s prolific career
as an artist may have started with his
wayside dreams of being a rock star.
REYKJAVÍK ARTS FESTIVAL SPECIAL