Reykjavík Grapevine - 19.11.2018, Page 47

them in a single glass case sur-
rounded by mirrors. Though the
installation is small enough to
lap in seconds, the play of light
is enough to suggest an endless,
dreamlike field, full of birds in
all the poses of life. A soundtrack
of bird sounds—not merely their
calls, but their heartbeats and the
beating of their wings—further
immerses the viewer.
Owl eats tern
Like the artifacts in ‘Börn í 100
ár,’ the birds are arranged ac-
cording to a scheme that is more
poetic than taxonomical. “People
sometimes ask about the birds,”
says Guðrún. “Why is the owl next
to the tern, for example? A child
could deduce the answer to that
question: because the owl eats the
tern. That’s how the artist thinks.”
That artistic logic seems to in-
spire unusually profound thought
in visitors, Guðrún has observed.
“Visitors write things in the guest-
book that are very personal,” she
says. More than just their names.
Someone wrote ‘My grandfather
died last year.’ Why would some-
one write that in a museum guest-
book? Because this is a very differ-
ent kind of museum.”
Though Safnahús Borgarfjarðar
strays from the mold, it retains the
most charming qualities of the
small-town cabinet of curiosities
it used to be. Guðrún, as well as
the rest of the knowledgeable staff,
are among those charms. There
are few big-city museums where
the director works the front desk,
ready to chat about art with who-
ever walks through the door.
“I’ve learned a lot about the art
over these years,” Guðrún says. “In
fact, I think I know the art better
than the artist does. I never get
tired of talking about it.”
“The play
of light is
enough to
suggest an
endless,
dreamlike
field, full of
birds in all
the poses of
life.”
The museum is good for all ages
It's a bird! It's a plane! Just kidding, it's a bird
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