STARA - 14.11.2015, Blaðsíða 57

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cording to a certain color scale,
while on the floor circles are
painted in varnish according to
another color scale and placed
on the rim. In yet another work,
Habby Osk experiments with
geometric shapes and deviations
from them. This ambiguity is
also visible in her older works,
such as when she places candles
in a beautiful pyramid and lights
them in a way that disrupts the
pyramid when the candles burn
down. In this way she manages
to connect a pure aesthetic ap-
proach to modern ideas about
the process and decay of systems.
There is, however, no movement
in the works in the east part of
the museum where Baldur Geir
Bragason mounts his exhibition,
a display of two works com-
posed of wooden crates which
lay on the floor accompanied by
high pillars. One of the things
that make Baldur Geir’s works
so mysterious and enchanting
is how he transforms common
items by robbing them of their
usual purpose. In that manner
he has constructed a rocking
chair which cannot be sat in and
stairs that lead nowhere. His
works are carefully crafted, but
when robbed of normal utility
we are forced to look at things in
a different light and in that way
he brings forth the aesthetic val-
ue of the woodwork and makes
it into art. The boxes in his
display are oblong, made from
planed wood and are the size of
small coffins. On the rim of the
cover is a row of handmade nails
which barely tack the wood, like
they have just been pulled out to
open the crate, or they just need
to be hammered in to close it.
We cannot figure out where we
are within the narrative.
The other series of works are
even more impenetrable: Four
high pillars stand on the floor
and define a square. On top of
each pillar are two more pillars,
and on top of them various other
small pillars. Some have smooth
sides while others are striped,
like a long “l”. Everything is
painted white so there is no way
to detect what is just a pillar
and what is the artwork on top
of the pillar. The work is, first
and foremost, humorous and
it is difficult not to smile when
you realize what the artist has
achieved. But at the same time
the work can raise serious ques-
tions about the status of visual
art and its setting. We are used
to an object being placed on a
pillar in order to be examined
as a work of art while the pillar
itself does not matter. But if a
pillar is placed on a pillar, does
it become a work of art? And
can the pillar underneath also be
a work of art? Is it perhaps the
pillar that creates the art within
our exhibition environment?
The works in the exhibition at
Kjarvalsstaðir in 1994 greatly
stretched the audience’s ideas
about sculpture. Many younger
artists used found objects and
not many works in the exhibi-
tion could be connected to tradi-
tional craftsmanship. However, a
lot of work was on “the concept”
and often in a humorous or
ironic manner (Icelandic con-
cept art has the unique position
of being humorous and fun). In
comparison, Habby Osk’s and
Baldur Geir’s exhibitions can
appear almost minimalist, but
many threads connect the two
decades. It will be interesting to
observe this exhibition series as
it progresses.
Photos Ing var Hög ni Rag narsson