Artist Presentations and Public Discussion
On day eight of the expedition we prepared for our public presentation of the Frontiers of Solitude project, which was held in the afternoon in Seyðisfjörður's theatre space. The organisers gave a comprehensive overview of the project's intentions and partners, and outlined the expedition program. The participating artists presented initial responses to their experiences of the encountered places and issues, and opened up a discussion with the audience. The conversation revolved around the Kárahnjúkar case, democracy, activism, local passivity as a cultural trait, the lack of a willingness to plan and make decisions, the touristic gaze, the dimensionality and relativity of local environmental issues in relation to the rest of the world, and the gap between self-perception and outside perception.
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. …
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. …
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. …
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. …
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. …
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. …
Field Work and Ecology
This expedition through Iceland will lead participants to various locations in South, East and North of Iceland where the untapped sources of renewable energy – water, steam, and wind – as well as the impacts of hydro- and geothermal power plants on the landscape and on local micro-economies, can be observed. …
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 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. …