Iceland review - 2014, Síða 46

44 ICELAND REVIEW
undoubtedly, a lot of that is rooted in an overly litigious society. if
you hike to a waterfall and fall over the cliff, it’s the national park’s
(or wherever you happen to be) fault for not putting up a railing
and a sign or three. in iceland, you’re on your own. Guard rails?
Minimal if they even exist. don’t-get-too-close-to-the-edge
signs? You’ll hardly ever see them. common sense must be much
more… common… in iceland.
icelanders know what they’ve got going for them. it’s a
beautiful place. Why over-stimulate the eye with unnecessary
distraction? it’s this sensitivity to design and aesthetic—even if
it’s Mother nature’s aesthetic—that makes iceland seem other-
worldly to the rest of us. perhaps, as an artist and designer, this is
the lesson: pay attention to your surroundings, don’t overwhelm
with more information than is needed, and let people use their
own common sense.
These aren’t novel ideas. van der rohe’s ‘less is more’ is one
of the most famous aphorisms i know (so perhaps it’s no surprise
that Harpa won the Mies van der rohe Award). But iceland drives
home the idea in fresh and new ways. From viðey to video art
and architecture and advertising, iceland is a place filled with so
much for an artist to take in. And i haven’t even told you about
my adventures in the countryside, hiking along beaches of black
sand and swimming naked in the hot springs.
So i set out to find some art and, indeed, found it almost every-
where i went. *
iceland
yoko ono’s imagine Peace tower at viðey island, just off reykjavík’s coast.