Attempting the Embrace n°31
Solo exhibition part of the D salur series, n° 44 Reykjavik Art Museum curated by Aldís Snorradóttir
2021
onsite multi media installation including a photograph, a sculpture, a sound piece, a light piece,
a city bench and a miniature of the space
A massive image of a landscape is leaning against the biggest wall of the room.
The location of this life-size landscape is not mentioned; it could be anywhere in the world but Iceland. This is a way for me to allow the viewers to project their own ideas, memories and narratives in the landscape. The bench is inviting the viewers to sit and contemplate the landscape, to feel immersed in the image.
This amazing ability we have to mentally project ourselves into a still image is fascinating; the gap between the artwork and the viewer disappears.
One of the main question of Attempting the Embrace n°31 is “where does the body end and the landscape begin”?
An unidentified organic matter is crawling on the floor from behind the photograph towards the viewer, a sea of blob, a little landscape of its own.
To me, it is the disruptive element of the installation, the one that pushes the photograph out of the wall and invades the space.
The light is constantly changing in a random pattern, giving a peculiar sense of time passing. It has a rythm of its own, which makes it independent from the viewers, from me. Sometimes the lights flicker to remind us that they are out of our control.
To me, the light installation gives movement and therefore life to the work, making Attempting the Embrace n°31 a realm of its own.
The sound piece comes in and out unexpectedly in the space. It is a recording of a natural element that can evoke the rumble of a belly, the sound of the earth moving or thunder from a great distance. The sound increases the feeling that this space is apart from the rest of the museum; it is a suspended entity open to interpretation.
