Reykjavík Grapevine - Jun 2023, Page 2

In This Issue
4
Icelandic politicians have no
choice but to give themselves
a raise
6
Choose your weapon and learn
how Vikings fight
10
Learn to shop for cheap from a
YouTube money guru
12—14
Is Iceland the environmental
utopia it markets itself as?
18
We went to Skjaldborg and
things got real
24-25
An American is here to save
the Icelandic music industry!
36
What if Icelanders had revolt-
ed? We have some thoughts
What is Iceland doing to address
the climate crisis? From establish-
ing itself as a hub for innovation, to
broadcasting an image of itself as a
green nation of geothermal energy
and pristine nature, our cover fea-
ture this issue looks at what is and
isn’t being done.
On the Cover
Late night
dining
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until 23:00 on weekdays
and 24:00 on weekends
A local favourite for over 20 years
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TAPASBARINN | Vesturgata 3B | Tel: 551 2344 | tapas.is
COVER
ILLUSTRATION:
Kosmonatka
Editorial It’s all an
illusion
WORDS Catharine Fulton,
Editor in Chief
Sometimes my eyes hurt from
constantly rolling in their sockets. It
happens everytime I see a headline
about Icelanders being environmen-
tally conscious, which only reminds
me of all the people leaving their die-
sel cars to idle while they run into the
shop, the people who eagerly take a
plastic to-go cup when they feel like
taking that last beer of the night on
the go, only to toss the cup haphaz-
ardly into the street a block later after
taking their last swig, the people who
fill their grey bins with mixed “trash”
rather than making any effort to sort
it and then pile their bags of mixed
garbage into my bin clearly marked
as recycling.
Iceland may provide the option of
being environmentally friendly simply
because it happens to be sitting
atop massive reserves of hot wa-
ter that Icelanders can harvest for
geothermal energy. But Icelanders
are not environmentally friendly. They
use geothermal energy because it’s
there. Once it comes to having to
make a decision between the green
choice or the easy choice, easy
seems to win out more often than
not.
In fact, despite all that sweet, sweet
geothermal energy Iceland’s house-
hold emissions are no lower than
in other European countries. Read
about Iceland’s approach to the
climate crisis in this issue’s cover
feature on page 12-14. Try not to roll
your eyes.
Contributors
CATHERINE
MAGNÚS DÓTTIR
Catherine studies culture and
literature in Iceland and came to
the Grapevine for the internship
but ended up freelancing for the
magazine. When she’s not trying to
reconnect with her Icelandic roots,
she’s usually watching video essays
or attempting to finally come up
with that one good story idea that
she can actually finish writing.
JÓHANNES BJARKI
BJARKASON
Jóhannes Bjarki is a Reykjavík local,
straight out of Grafarvogur. Having
been active as the frontman of the
post-punk band Skoffín and in the
post-dreifing art collective, Jóhannes
is fascinated by the Icelandic music
scene. Among his interests are
politics, history and pop culture.
IRYNA ZUBENKO
Iryna is a Ukrainian journalist work-
ing at the cross-section of media
and technology for the past five
years. While still figuring out what
to do in life, Iryna’s love of travelling,
unspoiled nature and Scandi design
has brought her to Reykjavík. One
day she’ll write a non-fiction book.
REX BECKETT
Rex Beckett has been a fixture in
the Reykjavík culture scene for over
a decade as a longtime music/art
writer and as former synthpunk
diva Rex Pistols. They are current-
ly working on a series delving into
the influence of Garfield on queer
millennials.
SHRUTHI BASAPPA
Shruthi Basappa traded the warmth
of Indian summers for Arctic winds
of Iceland. She’s a food enthusiast
masquerading as an architect at Sei
Studio and loves obsessive atten-
tion to detail. When not leading our
Best of Reykjavík food panel, Shruthi
can be found trying to become a
Michelin restaurant inspector.