Reykjavík Grapevine - mar. 2021, Side 20

The Rules Of A New
Dimension
Kristín Morthens' ‘Ge!numtrekkur’ pulls you
throu!h the window into another world
Words: Hannah Jane Cohen Photos: Art Bicnick
Exhibit
‘Gegnumtrekkur’ by Kristín Morthens
will be up at (ula until March 28th
‘Gegnumtrekkur’—the title of
Kristín Morthen’s newest exhibi-
tion at "ula—directly translates
to ‘the Bernoulli Principle.’ It’s a
physics term that describes stack
effect, or how differences in pres-
sure affect the flow of substances
in an enclosed environment. Basi-
cally, it’s an extrapolation of the
law of conserva-
tion of energy—
that total energy
m u s t r e m a i n
constant always.
But to be blunt,
it’s not exactly the
type of thing you
might immediate-
ly interpret from
K ristín’s paint-
ings. Her works are a whirlwind of
heightened, jewel-toned, chaotic
abstractions, teaming with un-
limited potential and kinetic ener-
gy. They don’t scream balance, but
rather push the limits of equilibri-
um in a fantastical, space-age way
that seems completely outside the
realm of physical laws. Does the
conservation of energy even exist
in her works? It’s difficult to say.
“If you open two windows in the
same space, the different air pres-
sures of the wind and the air pres-
sure inside will cause one window
to get slammed shut,” Kristín ex-
plains, walking around the airy
exhibition room. “So for this show,
I wrote an imaginative text where
this happens. I’m in a house and
I open two windows and because
of the air pressure, I get sucked
out of one of those windows and
journey into another reality.”
Beautiful but dangerous
This new reality is rife with sym-
bols that indicate the rules of
Kristín’s dimension. Some are the
same as ours—hierarchy, power,
love, and emotional and social
contracts. “But all of this is in an
a l i en , t i m e l e s s
space, so, for ex-
ample, you have
this shape here,”
s h e e x p l a i n s ,
pointing to the
top of a work en-
tit led ‘"y ngdar-
lögmál’ (‘Gravity’
or ‘Weight Law’).
“It’s both the sun
but it’s also a wheel saw blade. So
at the same time it’s something
that’s vital, that creates life, but
it’s also fatal and dangerous.”
Another shape that constantly
reappears in the series resembles
a hand curved around into a circle
with long jagged fingers. It im-
mediately brings to mind a fibo-
nacci sequence set into the form
of a claw—another mathematical
law that may or may not exist in
Kristín’s universe.
She gestures to a work entitled
’13 Tungl’ (’13 Moons’), pointing
to the large prominent claw dis-
played there. “Here, I’ve painted
the nails red so it’s exaggerated.
It’s taken from this reality of long,
red, femme nails—something
that is beautiful and seductive,
but also dangerous. Like ‘don’t
fuck with her,’” she says. Walk-
ing around, she motions towards
other works like ‘Sog’ (‘Suck’) and
‘Brennisteinn’ (‘Sulfur’), which
have the same motif—albeit set in
different situations.
Almost-touching
‘Brennisteinn’, in fact, has two
of these claws, both reaching to-
wards each other but never quite
making it—an endless mirrored
loop of almost-touching.
“It creates this tension,” Krís-
tin notes as she regards her
painting. “There’s some border
between affection and a push-
and-pull, which maybe you could
call rivalry. It’s at the border of
communication, which here, like
the other symbols, is both loving
and dangerous.”
And perhaps it’s here that the
previously elusive Bernoulli Prin-
ciple is seen in all its glory. For in
‘Brennisteinn,’ the kinetic ener-
gy of the flexing hands perfectly
counters the potential energy of
their almost-touching—the first
law of thermodynamics trium-
phantly presented against a back-
ground of Prussian blue.
Arti8 Gallery
Tryggvagata 16
101 Reykjavík
info@i8.is
t: +354 551 3666
www.i8.is
ANDREAS ERIKSSON
4 February - 3 April 2021
30.01.–09.05.2021
Ragnar
Axelsson
Where the World is Melting
Hafnarhús
Tryggvagata 17
+354 411 6410
artmuseum.is
Open daily
10h00–17h00
Thursdays
10h00–22h00
"It’s something
that’s vital, that
creates life, but
it’s also fatal and
dangerous.”
The artist in our own dimension, photographed in front of 'Gegnumtrekkur'
'Sólin hefur rau#ur neglur'