Reykjavík Grapevine - des. 2020, Blaðsíða 20

Reykjavík Grapevine - des. 2020, Blaðsíða 20
Find today's events in Iceland! Download our free listings app - APPENING on the Apple and Android storesArti8 GalleryTryggvagata 16101 Reykjavíkinfo@i8.is t: +354 551 3666 www.i8.is Gilbert & George The Great Exhibition 06.08.2020–03.01.2021 Hafnarhús Tryggvagata 17 +354 411 6410 artmuseum.is Open daily 10h00–17h00 Thursdays 10h00–22h00 A Cinematic Collection Of Souls The Icelandic Love Corporation on ‘Psycho!raphy’ Words: Hannah Jane Cohen Photos: Provided by the Icelandic Love Corporation A teenager lies on the floor feed- ing herself popcorn with her feet. A woman in a glamorous outfit hopelessly sweeps a room filled with sand. A man presents a plate of burnt kleinur donuts to an emp- ty kitchen. Welcome to ‘Psychogra- phy,’ one of the Icelandic Love Cor- poration’s latest cinematic works , which is being featured at the ‘When The Globe Is Home’ exhibi- tion at the Gallerie delle Prigioni in Treviso, Italy until the end of February. The grand video The 18-minute long extravaganza is based on a participatory perfor- mance by the group in 2016. While the now-duo has dabbled in many different mediums over the years, this was their first, as they de- scribe it, “grand video.” “We had this opportunity to make this performance in the countryside at an old farm that used to be a settlement from the Viking Age. It was also occupied by the British army during the war, so there’s a huge saga, or history connected to the land,” Eirún Sig- ur!ardóttir explains. Jóní Jónsdót- tir, her partner in the corporation, agrees. “We had a psychic or medium with us at the start of the project. We wanted to see what a psychic would feel coming into this old house that hadn’t been lived in for years, to see if there were some images or anything that we could start working with,” she says. The Hidden Woman & The Farmer Fortunately, the psychic saw a plethora of images, which pro- vided a framework for a few of the characters featured in the film. “For example, there is a char- acter that we call the Hidden Woman,” Jóni says. “The psychic saw this Hidden Woman that was protecting the land, but couldn’t move away from it.” “There was also a very dam- aged, not-so-happy spirit that was locked inside the house. He was so angry and so hostile that the psychic said we should not work in the house and never sleep in the house because things would start to happen,” she continues. “There is a character in the movie, which is not based on this guy ex- actly but has a bit of him. It’s this farmer with a big shotgun. He feels trapped inside his own feelings.” All of these characters exist in different dimensions of the house, somehow locked to the land itself. Take the aforementioned girl with her popcorn. “She’s trying to get out the window and run away but she gets caught in the net and pulled back in,” Jóni exclaims. “It’s a little bit like our ‘Hotel Califor- nia.’” The national costume of the Earth Jóni and Eirún feature in the film as the Madams—two stoic women dressed in the Icelandic national costume reimagined in cam- ouflage. “They have been there forever. They are almost like the Earth themselves. We are dressed in camouflage and in a national costume, so maybe we’re in the na- tional costume of the Earth,” the two explain. “Of course it has this violent side because [camouflage] is very much connected to war, as is nationality. So it’s not only peaceful—it’s a mix.” The aforementioned exhibition the film is featured in seeks to explore the relationship between the near and the far, the collective and the local—the “Home” and the “Globe.” The gallery itself is housed in an old prison. This, both emphasize, is somewhat of an Eas- ter egg. “Our characters are maybe not in a prison, but somehow they are locked in their dimension,” Jóni concludes. In Icelandic, the title of the film is ‘Sálnasafn’, which loosely translates to a collection of souls. ‘Psychography’ is their interpre- tation of his concept in English. The wordplay brings to mind an intricate connection between the psyche and geography. “Not only the geography of the land but of the soul,” the two conclude. “The landscape of the soul.” The Icelandic Love Corporation’s ‘Psychography’ will be featured at ‘When The Globe Is Home’ exhibi- tion at the Gallerie delle Prigioni in Italy until the end of February. You can explore the exhibition vir- tually on their website.

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