Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.02.2016, Page 2

2
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 2 — 2016 2
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 2 — 2016
Hafnarstræti 15, 101 Reykjavík
www.grapevine.is
grapevine@grapevine.is
Published by Fröken ehf.
www.froken.is
Member of the Icelandic
Travel Industry Association
www.saf.is
Printed by Landsprent ehf. in 25,000 copies.
Editor In Chief:
Haukur S Magnússon
haukur@grapevine.is
Production
manager
Jón Trausti Sigurðarson
jontrausti@grapevine.is
Journalist &
Listings editor
Gabríel Benjamin
gabriel@grapevine.is
Journalist &
Travel editor:
John Rogers
john@grapevine.is
Food Editor:
Ragnar Egilsson
ragnar@grapevine.is
Editorial:
+354 540 3600
editor@grapevine.is
Advertising:
+354 540 3605
ads@grapevine.is
+354 40 3610
Publisher:
Hilmar Steinn Grétarsson
hilmar@grapevine.is
+354 540 3601
publisher@grapevine.is
Contributing Writers:
Andri Gunnar Hauksson
Ciarán Daly
Davíð Roach
Eli Petzold
Grayson Del Faro
Hannah Jane Cohen
Kristín Svava Tóm-
asdóttir
Óli Dóri
Paul Fontaine
Rebecca Conway
York Underwood
Editorial Interns:
Hadrien Chalard / hadrien@grapevine.is
Hrefna B. Gylfadóttir / hrefnab@grapevine.is
Art Director:
Sveinbjörn Pálsson
Contributing Photographers:
Art Bicnick
Baldur Kristjáns
Hafsteinn Viðar Ársælsson
Magnús Andersen
Sales Director:
Aðalsteinn Jörundsson /
adalsteinn@grapevine.is
Helgi Þór Harðarson /
helgi@grapevine.is
Distribution manager:
distribution@grapevine.is
Proofreader:
Mark Asch
releases:
listings@grapevine.is
Submission inquiries:
editor@grapevine.is
Subscription inquiries:
+354 540 3605 / subscribe@grapevine.is
General inquiries:
grapevine@grapevine.is
Founders:
Hilmar Steinn Grétarsson,
Hörður Kristbjörnsson,
Jón Trausti Sigurðarson,
Oddur Óskar Kjartansson,
Valur Gunnarsson
The Reykjavík Grapevine is published 18 times
a year by Fröken ltd. Monthly from November
through April, and fortnightly from May til
October. Nothing in this magazine may be
reproduced in whole or in part without the writ-
ten permission of the publishers. The Reykjavík
Grapevine is distributed around Reykjavík,
Akureyri, Egilsstaðir, Seyðisfjörður, Borgarnes,
Keflavík, Ísafjörður and at key locations along
road #1, and all major tourist attractions and
tourist information centres in the country.
You may not like it, but at least it's not sponsored
(no articles in the Reykjavík Grapevine are
pay-for articles. The opinions expressed are the
writers’ own, not the advertisers’).
On the cover:
Kári Stefánsson.
Photographer:
Magnús Andersen -
magnusandersen
.co.uk
Assistant: Berglind
Erna Tryggvadóttir
asdfhg.’s “Kirkjusandur (óður til strætó
nr. 12)” (in English, “Kirkjusandur, ode
to bus 12”) is our dreamlike track of the
issue! Steinunn and Orri, the two young
kids behind asdfhg., both live close to
Kirkjusandur, and took frequent walks
around the area last summer—as such,
they felt the name Kirkjusandur encap-
sulates their friendship. “Ode to bus 12,”
however, is a reference to the fact that
Steinunn often has to stand out in the
cold for extended periods of time wait-
ing for that bus. Bonus fun fact: they
have a favourite bus driver who has long
hair, who they’ve given the nickname
“Bus Jesus” (the song is not about him,
though).
The electro duo recently released
their first EP together called ‘Skammde-
gi’ (“Short Days,” in English), which was
written and released in the short Icelan-
dic winter days. asdfhg. will perform for
the very first time at Sónar Reykjavík, so
be sure to check them out!
TRACK OF
THE ISSUE
asdfhg.
“Kirkjusandur (óður til
strætó nr. 12)”
Download it FREE at grapevine.is
A special thanks!
host a luxurious dinner for one of the
bands.
This will hopefully serve as encour-
agement for future generations of musi-
cians to release music and perform con-
certs, and possibly get free stuff in return.
Who knows.
Get the FREE Grapevine
apps Appy Hour, Craving,
and Appening. Available
on the App Store and on
Android Market
Regarding Sustainability
An afterword by Haukur S. Magnússon
Call it growing pains.
As the seemingly interminable influx of
tourists to Iceland continues to prop up
the nation’s economy and fund its con-
sumer electronics habit (thanks, guys!),
we have all but ceased debating whether
there might be any negative aspects to
this apparent windfall.
Because these negative aspects have
long since revealed themselves. Because
the topic is far beyond debate by now.
Because the adverse effects of Iceland-
ers’ gold-rush-inspired approach to
tourism have been plainly evident for
years. As the country’s infrastructure
struggles to accommodate humans in
numbers that far exceed what it was
built to sustain, popular tourism desti-
nations rapidly deteriorate, worn down
by a constant barrage of excessive foot
traffic, and residents of an entire postal
code are pushed out to make way for in-
ternational visitors who wish to experi-
ence first-hand the quaint and quirky
culture they’re displacing.
Turns out a frenzied rush for profit
without a hint of planning or oversight
hasn’t gotten any more viable a strategy
in the decade that’s passed since we last
gave it a go. The circumstances may be
different, but the methods are the same
and so are the results.
To their credit, Icelanders have ac-
knowledged the problems wrought by
their rapid ascent into mass tourism, and
have begun taking measures towards
crafting a more sustainable environ-
ment for the industry, in which tourism
can thrive in harmony with Iceland’s
nature and culture. Now, this is not to
say that these measures are working, or
that they ever will—as a matter of fact,
our government’s attempts at regulation
have mostly seen its ministers blindly
stumble between half-hearted, ill-
considered attempts at solutions which
rarely make it to even the parliamentary
debate stage due to their panicked fum-
bling. But it’s the thought that counts,
and it’s reassuring to know that we have
recognized the need to act, even if we
haven’t quite worked out what it is that
we should be doing.
---------------
Wow, this sounds bad huh? But it isn’t
really. I’ll let you in on a secret: None of
the stuff I’ve outlined and complained
about really matters, and none of it will
have any sort of lasting effect on any-
thing. Ultimately, we can’t really fuck up
our nature with excessive foot-traffic or
by erecting rows of tasteless gift shops.
Given half a chance, Iceland’s nature
will quickly reclaim its space and revert
to its barren, unwelcoming and majestic
self
And while it’s always kind of a bum-
mer when your favourite music venue
or art gallery shuts down, that doesn’t
really mean anything either. Folks will
continue to play music and make art, be-
cause those modes of expression are in-
trinsic to human nature, inasmuch that
such a thing can be said to exist.
Even though I am prone to nostalgia,
I am not conservative. I have accepted
that permanence is but an illusion, that
our world and our lives are forever in a
state of constant flux and all things are
subject to change from moment to mo-
ment. I’ll even celebrate the fact, be-
cause motion indicates life, just as stag-
nation equals death. And life is glorious,
and we should all be thankful that we
even get to partake.
With time, trampled walking paths
are overtaken by vegetation, tourist-
poop washes away, and musicians find
new buildings to perform music within.
(What’s truly harmful is actually the
opposite. Attempts to preserve a culture
or situation by imposing stasis or freez-
ing it in time will at best serve to murder
it, at worst you get like a fascist dictator-
ship or some other kind of evil shit (I’m
not sure, I’ve never tried, but I surmised
this using my philosophy degree)).
---------------
So even though Grapevine has been
ragging on Iceland’s tourism gold-rush
vibes for the near-decade that I have
helmed it (which always made me
chuckle, given that this is a publication
that generates all of its income through
tourism), we were never really targeting
the idea of tourism.
What I, at least, have been rallying
against is essentially the same thing I
ranted about during those prosperous
bubble years that preceded that gnarly
economic collapse of 2008: Blatant cash
grabs coupled with a total lack of fore-
sight, care or consideration at the hands
of those entrusted with keeping our na-
tion sane, safe and healthy. Ever since
our GDP kicked in again around the
same time Eyafjallamadaoodazxcczxr
started spewing, we Icelanders have
been rockin’ out to an exceedingly faith-
ful rendition of that classic hit song “Ev-
ery Single Mistake We Made A Decade
Ago.” Or maybe it’s a remix. It’s a cover
song for sure.
Listen: having to repeat all that with
the creeping certainty that we learned
absolutely nothing the last time we lived
through it has been fucking grim. Hell, I
even sorta left the country for a while, to
avoid going completely nuts. A lot of us
have been doing that. For a reason.
Yeah, prospects are grim in that re-
gard, but again: nothing is permanent.
And who knows, maybe the Pirates will
save us? (They won't).
Either way, I am not concerned.
---------------
PS
One last thing. After ten years of work-
ing for this magazine, and nearly a de-
cade of serving as its editor, it looks like
I’ve finally managed to successfully re-
sign from the post, after several botched
attempts (see for instance my last fare-
well editorial, issue 1, 2012). What a
crazy fucking decade it's been, though.
Wow. I get tired and kinda emo just
thinking about it. Being editor is a won-
derful, rewarding and well-paid job,
which entails a lot of reading and writ-
ing and rewriting plus updating a Face-
book page every four hours every day of
every week of every month—plus, you’re
never lonely because important people
(like marketers and deluded Belgians)
will ensure your supply of fresh email
never runs dry, while angry musicians
and restaurateurs take it upon them-
selves to call and check up on you from
time to time.
Hey that’s a joke. Sure, you get a lot
of emails, but a lot of them are actually
pretty good. And you get to meet and
work with and learn from all sorts of
wonderful people. And, you know…what
can I say. For better or worse, it’s been
my life. And, what a life it’s been! Thank
you, The Reykjavík Grapevine. You’re
the best, you really are. Please take care
of yourself as you enter your teens, and
try not to pick up a smoking habit even
though all the cool magazines are doing
it. You’re different. You’re better.
Love,
Your Friend At The
Haukur S. Magnússon