Atlantica - 01.09.2004, Qupperneq 16

14 A T L A N T I C A
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ATLANTICA CHECKS OUT INGEN FRYGT, A TRIO OF FEMALE ICELANDIC & DANISH MUSIC VIDEO DIRECTORS




A cursory glance at the website for the
design group Ingen Frygt can leave you a
bit confused. The portfolio of material
from the many club nights and exhibitions
they’ve organized is presented as a col-
lage of bizarre imagery. For example, you
might see a puffin standing next to two
men wearing fish tails on their heads,
which may precede a picture of men
dressed as Donald Duck on the set of one
of Ingen Frygt’s new video projects. Their
ability to mix bizarre pop culture imagery
in refreshing new ways have made this
trio of designers much sought after in the
world of music videos lately.
The trio is all connected in some way to
Iceland. Two of them, Sigrún Gudbrands-
dóttir and Hannah Heilmann, are half
Danish and have lived in Denmark most of
their lives. The third, Anna Maria Helga-
dóttir, moved to Denmark when she was
young and studied film and Japanese at
the University of Copenhagen. Atlantica
spoke with Anna Maria about some of
Ingen Frygt’s recent projects.
Atlantica: You talk on your website about
organizing club nights. Can you describe a
typical situation at one of these nights?
Anna Maria: Our recurrent theme for the
club nights is to mix our moods with what
we think is an important theme. We
recently did an African night at a renown-
ed gallery in Copenhagen, where we had
an androgynous 30-year-old electro star
and brothel bouncer to do a version of
Ice-T’s classic hit “Drama”. A West African
girl DJ played records. We sewed a huge
version of an old, imperialist children’s
board game called “Star of Africa” and all
the visitors got a bowl of African bean
casserole, which a Ghanaian au pair
taught me to cook in Rome a couple of
years ago.
Basically we wanted to somehow make
fun of all African preconceptions while
trying to show people the things that we
think are beautiful about it. We really
want to twist things around a little bit and
the best way to do that is to make every-
one laugh and enjoy themselves.
Atlantica: You mention in your website
biography that Ingen Frygt “explores pop
culture and media” when you make your
music videos. How do you explore pop
culture in your work?
Anna Maria: We’re obsessed with all
aspects of culture and pop culture.
We love Alban Berg and Beyoncé, Dylan
Thomas and Elmore Leonard, Turner and
Robert Crumb – as long as it somehow
changes your view of the world, makes
you think about things you hadn’t thought
of before, or helps you put your thoughts
into words and pictures.
Atlantica: Ingen Frygt is a trio. What do
each of the members contribute to the
group?
Anna Maria: Our most obvious strength is
that we’re completely self-sufficient. We
direct. We do animation, photography,
editing, production, PR, graphics… what-
ever. We almost always agree on every-
thing and know how to accept the others’
superiority in a specific field. Plus, we love
what we do and I think this shows in our
work. It’s so gratifying to be able to put
whatever silly thought comes into your
head into pictures.
It is hard to say who does what. We all
do a bit of everything. I’m sure that to
some people we are a living nightmare.
Three directors. Three female directors,
even.
Atlantica: Who is the most important crit-
ic of a finished product?
Anna Maria: We show each other. We are
our own toughest critics. We come down
on each other quite hard at times, but
when one of us has done a good job we’re
positively ecstatic about it. Sometimes we
let Sigrún’s kids judge. If we make a video
that they want to watch over and over
again, it’s usually a good sign. But [gen-
erally] we don’t like being criticized. It
ruins this bubble that we’ve made for our-
selves.
Anna María Helgadóttir,
Sigrún Guðbrandsdóttir,
and Hannah Heilmann
of Ingen Frygt
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