Reykjavík Grapevine - 02.06.2017, Page 31

Old favourites Bárujárn, who haven’t
been active for quite a few years, re-
turned last week out of the blue with
a brand new song and video. Those
who’ve read our column before know
our affection for their unique brand
of surf rock with a twist: the most
magical instrument ever invented,
the theremin. The new song is called
“Vopnafjörður,” after a fjord in the
east of Iceland whose name liter-
ally translates as “Weapons fjörd.”
There is nothing new in Bárujárn’s
formula, but we just never get tired
of it. It’s like The Shadows with a
darker shade of sunglasses playing
in the night-time on an Icelandic
wasteland. And the video has a girl
running through a harsh landscape
and eventually doing impressionis-
tic dancing in the shore of an arche-
typical Icelandic black sand beach.
Newcomer and extremely young rap-
per Smjörvi just put out the summer
jam for the season, titled “Sweeter
than the Summer.” The beat has
bright sparkling synths and steel
drum-like rhythms, and the chorus
captures perfectly the feeling of hav-
ing a beer on a rooftop in the after-
noon sun after a trip to the swim-
ming pool. The video has him juggling
pineapples, eating them, and kick-
ing them around like hacky sacks. It
doesn’t get any more summery than
this, and we will sure be blasting the
song in public parks, barbecue par-
ties and camping trips all summer.
About a week after these words come
out of the printing press marks the
start of the Secret Solstice Festival.
The four-day music extravaganza is
held outdoors in Laugardalur from
June 15-18, and has over the past years
gained a spot in the calendar as some-
thing to look forward to. We’re excited
about the hip-hop/funk of anderson.
paak, the house antics of Black Madon-
na, the fitness of Roots Manuva and
the youthful sass of Princess Nokia—
just to name a few of the great lesser-
known acts, of which there are many.
And last but not least: Self-promotion!
We will be hosting a series of concerts
this summer in cooperation with the
arthouse cinema Bíó Paradís. The
first one will be on June 8, featuring
Straumur favourites Andi and TSS.
We’ve talked about Andi many times
before in this column and his play-
ful Italo-inspired electro pop always
brings a smile to our faces—and made
for the second-best album of last year,
according to our unerring opinion.
TSS is the solo project of Nonni, one
half of Nolo, and his hazy approach
to psychedelic pop is uniquely his
own. We expect the best from both of
those artists and for you, dear read-
ers, to show up and show some love.
God, I Feel
So Bad
Ragnar Kjartansson takes
over Hafnarhúsið
Ragnar Kjartansson is an unlikely art
star. Since his emergence onto the cul-
tural scene as a musical and artistic
provocateur, he has risen from playful,
punky experimentalist to perhaps the
single most successful visual artist
Iceland has ever produced.
After shows at renowned institu-
tions like the Barbican and New Mu-
seum, ‘God, I Feel So Bad’ is his first
museum show on his home turf. It
draws together witty and playful mul-
tidisciplinary works from 2004 to the
present day in a wide-ranging look at
his prolific output, whether it’s a film
of The National playing the song “Sor-
row” live for six hours straight, an ac-
tor endlessly strumming the chord e-
minor in the gallery, or a four-screen,
twenty-hour adaptation
of Halldór Laxness’s
‘World Light’.
All of these pieces
have an enjoyably theat-
rical sensibility—Rag-
nar comes from a family
of actors and set design-
ers, and each piece feels
like it’s delivered with a
raised eyebrow, with a
punchline around the
corner. “I think that the
only true art is enjoying
art,” Ragnar has stat-
ed, and it shows in the
sense of boldness and
spontaneity that runs
throughout his practise. As curator
Markús Þór Andrésson says, “Ragnar’s
work reveals the degree to which we
continually construct our reality, and
his playful approach reminds us of the
pleasure that we may allow ourselves
in that process.”
But along with the light-hearted-
ness, a feeling of deep melancholy
seeps through. While Ragnar seems
to fully enjoy creating art—and his
performative take on the role and
identity of “artist”—his charismatic
clowning also feels like a strategy
for fending off sadness. Looked at
through this filter, the paper-thin
theatre backdrops become the world
as we perceive it, and
the players fi l l their
time with a variety of
absurd activities be-
fore their inevitable
exit from the stage.
“I don’t believe in
the truth of art,” says
Ragnar. “As my moth-
er says, ‘Let’s not de-
stroy a good story with
the truth.’” So perhaps
we’ll never get to the
crux of whether his
work is an elaborate
prank, an existential
cry for help, both, or
something else. Nev-
ertheless, his creations remain im-
mersive, effervescent, and a pleasure
to behold.
Words:
Óli Dóri &
Davíð Roach
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straumur
Straumur,
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premier indie
music radio
show, airs on
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23:00. Daily
music news
in Icelandic at
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Words:
John Rogers
Photos:
Courtesy of the
artist, Luhring
Augustine &
i8 Gallery
31
Juggling Pineapples
Straumur
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“Each piece
feels like it’s
delivered with
a raised
eyebrow, and
a punchline
around the
corner.”
gpv.is/culture
Full culture coverage
Breiðholt Rising!
Breiðholt Festival
June 11, 13:00, Ystasel 37, Free
No, it’s not a typo: something
is happening in sleepy suburb
of Breiðholt. Based around the
Greenhouse recording studio,
Breiðholt Festival is a free event
featuring live music from sóley,
Ólöf Arnalds, aYia, RuGl and more,
as well as exhibitions, a market,
food stands, pool performances,
dance workshops and a perfor-
mance in a swimming pool. Worth
the bus ride. JR
Blow, Gabriel, Blow
Gler Í Bergvík Glass Studio
June - August, Everyday Except Sun.,
Víkurgrund 10, Kjalarnes
After 35 years of solitary confine-
ment, the first and only hot glass
studio in Iceland is opening its
doors to reveal the magic behind
visual artist Sigrún Einarsdót-
tir’s art installations. Come along
to Gler í Bervík and watch Sigrún
conjure beauty out of fire at the
feet of Mount Esja. AD
The Struggle, My Struggle
NonfictionNOW
Fri, 2 June, 19:30, Harpa, 1.000 ISK
If you just inhaled sharply at the
sight of Karl Ove Knausgård’s
name, you are the target audience
of this pick. Controversial or mes-
sianic, Knausgård took the literary
world by storm with his multi-vol-
ume autobiographical novel “My
Struggle.” As part of the Nonfic-
tioNOW conference, he’s doing a
talk at Harpa. Whether you root
for him or shit-talk him to other
intellectuals, you at least deserve
to give him a chance to explain
himself in person. See you there.
HJC