I & I - 2011, Page 32

32 I&I
counter between local women and alien
residents in ancient Naples.
Two recordings of other works are also
on display: the musically-inflected video
installation “Constitution of the Republic of
Iceland” (2008-2011), accompanied by the
appropriated colorful, dotted costumes of
the performers; as well as a video docu-
mentation of the gondola performance
“Il tuo paese non esiste”. A contempo-
rary serenade for mezzo-soprano, guitar
and trumpet, the piece was composed by
Karólína Eiríksdóttir and performed live
by Ásgerður Júníusdóttir, traveling the ca-
nals of Venice. The simple lyrics repeat the
same phrase in several languages: “This is
an announcement from Libia and Ólafur:
Your country doesn’t exist.”
For the “Constitution of the Republic
of Iceland,” the duo commissioned Eiríks-
dóttir to write music for the eighty-one
articles of the Icelandic constitution to
be sung by soprano, baritone and mixed
choir with piano and double bass. “We
wanted to reflect publicly on the constitu-
tion, but decontextualize it by transform-
ing it into something else—a music piece
and a performance,” the artists explain.
It was recorded by RÚV (the National
Broadcasting Service) and broadcast on
television, whereas the editing was overseen by the duo.
The fourth and final part of the series is a “do-It-Yourself”
painting by the Icelandic Ambassador in Berlin H.E. Mr. Gunnar
Snorri Gunnarsson in February 2011, in collaboration with the
artists.
Castro and Ólafsson’s participation in the Biennale this year
creates exceptional enthusiasm. This creative duo has the best
potential of becoming international art stars and outshining the
biggest contemporary Icelandic visual exports so far: Erró and
Ólafur Elíasson.
By Kremena Nikolova-Fontaine
The joint career since 1997 of Libia Castro (b. 1969 in Madrid)
and Ólafur Ólafsson (b. 1973 in Reykjavík) has consistently
reflected the globally changing world. According to the Icelan-
dic Art News website, “[t]hey collaborate with CEOs and minis-
ters, as well as with the homeless, with activists, lobbyists or for-
tune tellers and their “moving perspective” takes them to places
such as the streets of Istanbul, the EU offices and the catacombs
of Naples.” Castro is a foreign-born artist: unprecedented in the
history of the Icelandic participation at the Biennale.
Their participation, entitled “Under deconstruction”, includes
three works, consisting of video, performance, sculpture, sound
and music interventions. At the Icelandic Pavilion, visitors will
encounter a neon sculpture installed on the facade reading “Il
tuo paese non esiste” (Italian for “Your country doesn’t exist”)
as well as the bilingual audio piece “Exorcising Ancient Ghosts”
(2010) on the roof, in which two couples having intercourse re-
cite Greek-Roman fragments about the forbidden intimate en-
iceLAnd does
(not)
exist
Internationally renowned for
their attentive and often critical
artwork dealing with global
socio-political and economical
issues, Spanish-Icelandic duo
Libia Castro and Ólafur Ólafsson
are Iceland’s representatives at
this year’s Venice Biennale.
The gondola performance "Il tuo paese non esiste".
P
ho
to
b
y
P
ál
l S
te
fá
ns
so
n.
P
ho
to
c
o
ur
te
sy
o
f
B
lu
e
M
ed
iu
m