Iceland review - 2014, Qupperneq 8

6 ICELAND REVIEW
Becoming a Stone
the idea of the stone coat is really simple. i thought it
would be nice to have the opportunity to be a stone for
a moment. it’s just nice to take a break sometimes and feel
complete silence where you don’t need to think about any-
thing,” says textile artist Ýr Jóhannsdóttir, or Ýrúrarí, who is
a student at the Reykjavík School of Visual art. “my initial
inspiration for the project was to make something as cold
and hard as a stone become warm and wearable. translating
a stone into a coat was a really exciting challenge.” i am a
Stone was three to four weeks in the making. Ýr mostly used
a Brother 950i knitting machine but the moss and braids are
handmade.
Ýr made the stone coat this summer as part of the project
Skapandi sumarstörf (‘creative Summer Jobs’), run by local
authorities in Kópavogur, a town just outside Reykjavík.
the objective is to provide young and talented residents,
ages 18-25, with a platform to work on their art creations
while on a break from school, and at the same time boost the
town’s cultural life with exhibits and performances during
the summer months. the project ends with a ‘harvest fes-
tival’ where participants showcase the summer’s labors and
this is where Ýr premiered i am a Stone.
“i came up on stage wearing the stone coat and briefly
introduced the project. then i did a performance where i
lay down and tried to look as much like a stone as i could in
complete silence for some minutes. the crowd really liked it
and i was happy with the outcome.” *
Young textile artist Ýr Jóhannsdóttir, or Ýrúrarí, tells Rachel Mercer about her recent project, I Am a Stone.