Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.04.2016, Síða 40

Very occasionally, arriving in a new
place can feel like stepping into an-
other world, like at Dyrholæy beach,
where the violent waves lift thou-
sands of black pebbles before dash-
ing them into the surf in an over-
whelming, cacophonous clatter.
The Weather Diaries, by Aus-
trian-American artist duo Cooper
& Gorfer, plucks the viewer out of
reality in a similar way. The dimly
lit, grey-walled exhibition uses
the work of North Atlantic fashion
designers to create an immersive
take on the windblown, mountain-
ous lands of Iceland, Greenland and
the Faroe Islands, linking their in-
terconnected histories, landscapes
and environments to the creative
practises of today.
Somewhat fittingly, Sarah Coo-
per and Nina Gorfer’s artistic part-
nership was born in Iceland, eleven
years ago. “Our very first project
dealt with an experience of travel in
Iceland,” says Sarah, “so it’s part of
us, you could say. It’s what catapult-
ed us into this in the first place, and
it set the stage for our process and
the way we work together today.”
Collaboration, wildness, fearless-
ness
After agreeing to create The Weath-
er Diaries for the Nordic Fashion
Biennale, Cooper & Gorfer began
with an investigation into the fash-
ion designers of Greenland, Iceland,
and the Faroes. Working alongside
The Nordic House, they drew up a
list of participants, meeting with
them for interviews about their
practices, philosophies, problems,
and commonalities.
“As a collaborative and curato-
rial project, this was very new to
us—this kind of blended exhibition
where the photographs are with
installations and work by other
people,” they say. “That was really
interesting—the curation, the col-
laboration, looking at the brief from
different angles.”
The “red thread” they found was a
shared experience of the stormy, un-
predictable, ever-changing weather.
Alongside the beautiful installations
of clothing and large portraits sit sev-
eral textural, turbulent landscapes.
“When you are in these places,
the power of the nature leaves an
imprint on you,” says Sarah. “The
creativity that comes from here has
a wildness and a fearlessness to it.
In that way, the weather and the
nature was important to incorpo-
rate into the images. We wanted to
portray that outside of the picture-
postcard way—to get under your
skin more.”
Nordic Flavour
This wild nature, brutal weather,
relative isolation, unrestrained cre-
ativity and dark mythology all con-
tribute to the recent swell in atten-
tion to the Nordic and polar region.
In fact, the Icelandic opening of The
Weather Diaries follows shows in
Tórshavn, Copenhagen and Frank-
furt; a duplicate Weather Diaries
exhibition has also opened in Bei-
jing, and it will open in Seattle this
summer.
“We noticed in Beijing that the
Nordic identity, and cultural fla-
vour, is so intensely strong—there’s
a real power in it, and people are
fascinated by it,” says Sarah. “We fo-
cussed on the North Atlantic, and in
Beijing that’s considered incredibly
exotic. But just in general, the Nor-
dic region shouldn’t be underesti-
mated right now. We noticed a pulse
from that in China. It’s an interest-
ing identity to have, and to use.”
The Weather Diaries is showing at The
Nordic House until July 5. Get more
info at www.nordichouse.is.
SHARE: gpv.is/wdiaries
From the exhibition
Making The Weather
Cooper & Gorfer haved turned
North Atlantic fashion design into
a mesmerising exhibition
By JOHN ROGERS
Art Icelandic Pioneer
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40The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 4 — 2016