Frontiers of Solitude: A project presentation
Recently the Frontiers of Solitude collaborative project between Školská Gallery in Prague (CZ), Atelier Nord in Oslo (NO), and Skaftfell - Center for Visual Art in Seyðisfjörður (IS) came to an end. From April 2015 to April 2016 Frontiers of Solitude has worked with 20 artists through a series of field expeditions, workshops, lectures, symposia, and exhibitions.
The project has focused on the effects of recent industrial human activity on the natural world. It invited its participants to observe and address
the ecological and socio-economic impacts of energy production and mining on specific landscapes in Czech Republic, Norway, and Iceland.
In the context of the project six artists from the three participating countries were invited to East Iceland in August 2015. Organized by Skaftfell, they undertook a 12-day expedition tracing the ecological and socio-economic effects of hydropower, in particular the systemic connections between Kárahnjúkar hydroelectric dam, Alcoa Fjarðaál in Reyðarfjörður, and the Héraðsflói estuary in East Iceland. Four more artists from Iceland took part in similar multinational expeditions, which led them to the industrial mining and oil refinery sites in northern Norway and to the open pit coal mines in Czech Republic.
The works shown in the Skaftfell gallery present a selection of artistic responses to these three expeditions. The Frontiers of Solitude project has been exhibited in its entirety at Skolska Gallery, Fotograf Gallery, and Ex-Post Gallery in Prague (CZ), co-curated by Dana Recmanová (CZ), Ivar Smedstad (NO), and Julia Martin (IS).
A selection of works has been shown at The Vysočina Regional Gallery in Jihlava (CZ). Further presentations are planned at the Jan Evangelista Purknyné University in Ústi nad Labem (CZ), and at Atelier Nord in Oslo (NO).
The project is documented in a catalog which is available for viewing in the Skaftfell gallery. At Skaftfell,
the participating artists are: Finnur Arnar Arnarson (IS), Karlotta Blöndal (IS), Peter Cusack (UK/DE), Þórunn Eymundardóttir (IS), Iselin Linstad Hauge (NO), Monika Fryčová (CZ/IS), Elvar Már Kjartansson (IS), Alena Kotzmannová (CZ), Pavel Mrkus (CZ), Greg Pope (UK/NO), Kristín Rúnarsdóttir (IS), Ivar Smedstad (NO), Diana Winklerová (CZ), Martin Zet (CZ).
Project management by Julia Martin.
The project has been supported by an EEA grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.
Skaftfell
Skaftfell Center for Visual Art, located in Seyðisfjörður, plays the essential role of presenting, discoursing and encouraging the development of contemporary art in eastern Iceland. It is a meeting point for artists and locals, and its activities are based on exhibitions and events, alongside an international residency program and outreach program. …
instalace Fotograf Gallery, photo: Tomáš Hrůza,
Pavel Mrkus
Pavel Mrkus is a visual artist who makes use of digital moving images, sound and space. He graduated from the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague. For several years, he taught at the University in Toyama in Japan. His work makes use of digital technologies in an attempt to intermediate between the spiritual traditions of western Europe and the East. …
view in the Installation Ex Post gallery, photo: Tomáš Hrůza
Julia Martin
Julia Martin is a German visual artist and landscape architect who lives in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland. She acts as local project curator and as a guide for the Iceland expedition. …
Karlotta Blöndal, Frontiers of Solitude (union). Flag pole, aquarelle on paper (detail), 2015.
Karlotta J. Blöndal
Karlotta J. Blöndal works in a variety of media, including drawings, paintings, publications, installations and performances. Her work often uses found documents, exploring the tension between presentation, re-presentation and value in the art object. …
Monika Fryčová, Joik. Video still, 2015.
Monika Fryčová: Joik
Monika Fryčová is an audiovisual artist, performer, and writer. She frequently deals with mixed media and untranslatable experiences, trying to perform under their own rhythms – the Here and the Now – the search for the primal source constantly found, only to be deserted again. …
Captured, Iceland 2015
Diana Winklerová
Diana Winklerová is a sculptor and musician living and working in Prague. She graduated from the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague from the sculpture studio under the guidance of prof. Kurt Gebauer. …
Martin Zet
Martin Zet is a Czech visual and performance artist. He lives in Lubušín near Kladno and works at The Faculty of Visual Art at the Technical University in Brno as head of the video departement. He enlists the aid of replicas of specific visible features to reference their meaning. …
Marble Warble, 2016, 4:21, col, stereo. videostill
Ivar Smedstad
Ivar Smedstad is currently director of Atelier Nord, a media arts organization in Oslo. Ivar Smedstad has been working in video art and electronic media since the early 1980s and has participated in numerous international and national video art exhibitions, screenings and festivals. …
Greg Pope: Iceland, 2015
Greg Pope: Lagoon
Greg Pope is a British media artist and filmmaker who currently lives in Norway. After dabbling in punk rock bands and absurdist performance, Pope founded the Brighton-based super-8 film collective Situation Cinema in 1986, and afterwards, Loophole Cinema in London, 1989. …
The Sydvaranger mine, Finnmark, photo: Iselin Lindstad, 2015
Iselin Linstad Hauge
Iselin Linstad Hauge works with film, text, photography and performance. Her work aims to develop a more sensitive awareness, highlighting the relationship between society and nature, with emphasis on the human-animal interaction. …
Finnur Arnar Arnarson, Untitled. Photograph, 2015.
Finnur Arnar Arnarson: Ignorant and Happy
Finnur Arnar Arnarson works with video, text, and installation, finding his inspiration in familiar reality. Themes in his work include alienation from the environment, the objective and subjective experiences of time and space, and technology as an extension of human will and determination. …
Elvar Már Kjartansson, Crushing Birch. Video still, documentation of work in progress, 2015.
Elvar Már Kjartansson
Elvar Már Kjartansson is a sound craftsman and explorer. Under the name of Auxpan he creates musical experiences in which soundbites, rhythmic patterns produced by self-developed devices, and field recordings come together in an experimental and highly personal sound experience. …
Peter Cusack
Peter Cusack works as a field recordist with a special interest in environmental sound and acoustic ecology. His projects have included community arts, research into sound and our sense of place, and documentary recordings in areas of special sonic interest (Lake Baikal, Siberia). …
Kristín Rúnarsdóttir: Greyout. Gouache and inkjet print series, 2015.
Kristín Rúnarsdóttir
Kristín Rúnarsdóttir is a visual artist living and working in Keflavik, Iceland. Her work finds inspiration in the curiosities of sign systems, rules, and organization. …
Þórunn Eymundardóttir, The Sky Over Libkovice. Postcard multiple, front side, 2015.
Þórunn Eymundardóttir: The Sky Over Libkovice
Þórunn Eymundardóttir works in various media, such as installations, performances, video and audio, sculpture and photography. The exploration of boundaries between the self and the other, and the elevation of everyday life are at the core of her practice. …
Iceland expedition 2015. Photo: Julia Martin, 2015
