Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.11.2017, Side 24

The Grotesque Powers
Of Human Nature
Egill Sæbjörnsson’s trolls come back to Iceland for a jewellery
exhibition at i8 gallery that asks all the right questions
As I sit in the peacock-blue interiors
of i8 Gallery, a turquoise espresso cup
twinkles before my eyes
like a rare gem. A thin
coat of gold has been
melted along the uneven
curves of its brim, strikingly bright
against the dark cloud of coffee I’ve
been sipping. “It‘s real gold, you know,”
says the artist, Egill Sæbjörnsson.
Egill insisted that we get a cup of
coffee while we check out his jewellery
exhibition in i8 Gallery. His reputation
as a provocateur precedes him, and I
half expected him to show up in a di-
shevelled overall and ripped sweater.
Instead, he’s wearing a
lovely brick-red jacket
over his slightly retro
outfit. He speaks softly
but there’s a humorous twinkle in his
eye that betrays him. It’s in that twinkle
that I see reflected the bizarre exhibi-
tions he’s known for.
Ugh & Böögar strike again
After his 2016 exhibition at the Venice
Biennale, where—as he explains mis-
chievously—he worked with his col-
laborators, the Icelandic trolls Ugh and
Böögar, Egill has finally come back to
Iceland for another partnership with
his favourite trolls. For years they’ve
been collaborating on a collection of
oversized rings, necklaces and trinkets
of all kind; a massive pebble-like neck-
lace hangs majestically from one of the
walls of the installation, while intricate
rings made of pure gold and colourful
perfume bottles sit on shelves like half-
forgotten treasures. A small volcanic
stone covered in moss has been deco-
rated with a not-so-subtle ruby-like
gem that sparkles with lively energy
under the dim lights. “We water the
moss every day,” Egill says with a nod.
It doesn’t take long to walk through
Egill’s exhibition. It’s so simple it’s
almost familiar, like the primordial
memory of something that moves flu-
idly between history and imagination.
It could just as well be a real collection
of giant jewellery from the Stone Age—
or perhaps the improbable accessory
line of a new Disney movie. This state
of indecision and the sense of bounc-
ing back and forth between the hazy
boundaries of dream and reality is
characteristic of Egill’s work.
The importance of being
playful
This mindset, however, doesn’t spawn
simply from a calculated ontological
analysis, but it rather mirrors Egill’s
own personal relationship with the
fantasy world. “I think that it’s very im-
portant to be playful for grownups and

Words:
Alice Demurtas
Photos:
Blair Alexander
Massie
gpv.is/culture
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