Dreams of the Sublime and Nowhere in Contemporary Icelandic...
http://artmuseum.is/exhibitions/dreams-sublime-and-nowhere-co...
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2/21/16 4:46 PM
Dreams of the Sublime and Nowhere in Contemporary Icelandic...
http://artmuseum.is/exhibitions/dreams-sublime-and-nowhere-co...
S
Shhaarree::
Overview photos: Brooks Walker
Dreams of the
Sublime and
Nowhere in
Contemporary
Icelandic Art
18.05.2008 - 31.08.2008
Ranging from panoramic landscape
photographs from the 1920s to
A
Arrttiisstt::
Anna Hallin
Daníel Magnússon
Gjörningaklúbburinn
Halldór Ásgeirsson
Hrafnkell Sigurðsson
Hreinn Friðfinnsson
Kristján Guðmundsson
Ólafur Elíasson
Olga Bergmann
Pétur Thomsen
Sigurður Guðjónsson
Sigurþór Hallbjörnsson
Vigfús Sigurgeirsson
multi-media installations, the exhibition Ragnar Kjartansson
showcases diverse visions of the
Icelandic wilderness. Classical and
modernist works are juxtaposed to
contemporary landscapes by some of
Iceland’s most prominent artists
C
Cuurraattoorr//ss::
Æsa Sigurjónsdóttir
IInnvviittaattiioonn ccaarrdd::
To travel north has always been a
challenge, and Iceland in particular,
speaks to the imaginative face of the
sublime, the dynamic aspects of the
idea. As a place it has for centuries
been the terra incognita in the eyes of
the outside world, a place of
“nowhere” where “anything can
happen”. The experience of the sublime
is by definition, one that subverts
order, coherence, a structured
organization. As a place of perpetual
geological change, ravaged by volcanic
eruptions and massive glaciers, Iceland
has through the ages evoked a mixture
of wonder and fear. One could even
say that the Icelandic highlands could
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C
Caattaalloogg::
2/21/16 4:46 PM
Dreams of the Sublime and Nowhere in Contemporary Icelandic...
http://artmuseum.is/exhibitions/dreams-sublime-and-nowhere-co...
be experienced as a prime example of
Sjá sýningarskrá (7.03 MB)
the classical notion of the sublime:
Sjá sýningarskrá (7.03 MB)
"Whatever operates in a manner
analogous to terror, is a source of the
M
Myynndd ssaam
mssttaarrffssaaððiillaa::
sublime. "
As an imagined space the highlands
have a long tradition in the cultural
history of Iceland as being a place of
darkness and death, a space on the
margin of society, hosting the ‘other.’
However, the inland had no distinctive
meaning, it had no religious, historical
or mythical narrative attached to it, no
interpretive context which would
enable appreciation, it was pure
vacuity, solitude and silence.
The controversy around the
construction of a new hydroelectric
power station and dam in the pristine
highlands of Iceland created a public
awareness of the existence of a
different kind of space in Icelandic
nature. This space might be called
“nowhere”, “otherness” or just
“something else”. Recent visual
productions all translate important shift
in meaning from the traditional 20th
century national discourse, where
nature as well as it’s representations
was perceived as constructor of
national identity, towards global ethical
and political questions concerning the
future and the meaning of human life.
The implications of this shift affect not
only the discourse of how art is placed
within the public realm, but the very
definition of what constitutes an
identity of a place and the people who
live there.
The romantic striving for communion
with nature is far from the concerns of
most Icelandic artists, who taste the
experience of their unspoiled homeland
with a grain of salt. Their relationship
with the island as a home,
geographical space and identity is
complex and not easily grasped by the
foreign observer. Constructing around
layers of visual and literary
experiences, they are principally
reacting to the changing place of
Iceland in global ecological and political
context.
In a period of intense global shifts,
abstractly mediated through
international media and mobile
networks which are radically reforming
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2/21/16 4:46 PM
Dreams of the Sublime and Nowhere in Contemporary Icelandic...
http://artmuseum.is/exhibitions/dreams-sublime-and-nowhere-co...
our contemporary notions of places, it
is not always easy to get a grasp on
the deep social and geographical
changes happening in front of our eyes.
By putting forward a new
understanding of the sublime, Icelandic
artists are contributing to a recent
notion of sublime in an environmental
and aesthetic context, facing the fact
that even in Iceland we find the visual
landmarks of global economy.
In conjuncion with the exhibition, a
special space was created
where children and adults
could contemplate their planet, their
country, and the landmarks of their
environment. What points of
orientation do we use to place
ourselves in nature? The fun learning
materials and puzzles may also be used
to get to know the rest of the
museum’s exhibits.
V
Viiððbbuurrððiirr tteennggddiirr ssýýnniinngguu::
Sýningin var fyrst á dagskrá á Bozar í
Brussel á hátíðinni Iceand on the Edge
2008. Sýningin er á dagskrá
Listahátíðar í Reykjavík.
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