STRAY BEACONS
Events
May 16 – August 3
Opening reception will be in each lighthouse from 15-17 May.
Opening hours during Reykjavik Arts Festival: 16 – 31 May, daily (except Mondays) 1-6 pm
Opening hours in the summer: 1 June – 2 August, Thursday - Sunday 1-6 pm
Ásdís Sif Gunnarsdóttir exhibits in Kópasker-lighthouse by Öxarfjörður
Curver Thoroddsen exhibits in Bjargtangar-lighthouse in the West Fjords
The Icelandic Love Corporation exhibits in Garðskagi-lighthouse in Reykjanes Peninsula
Unnar Örn exhibits in Dalatangi-lighthouse in the East Fjords
This spring, the Reykjavik Arts Festival 2009 hosts an unconventional art exhibition in four lighthouses around Iceland, one in each quarter of the island. Artists have been invited to install their work in the lighthouses that will be open to the public during the summer. Each of the participating artists is quite different from the others, even if they belong to the same generation. A mutual element in their work, however, is a coherent search for innovative ways to relate to their immediate surroundings, society and the audience.
The project's title reflects its itinerant nature. Not only spread over some of the most remote places of Iceland, it will also pop up in unforeseen sites throughout the summer. Traditionally emitting a guiding light to seafarers in the dark, there is little need for the lighthouses to do so during bright summer nights. Instead, they will function as beacons of another nature, signalling to the islanders after a hard winter of dismay and uncertainty. People are encouraged to travel this summer from one lighthouse to the next, take part in a rare cultural event, visit the intriguing constructions and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.
The exhibition is a joint project of the Reykjavík Arts Festival, the Icelandic Maritime Administration, lighthouse guards at each lighthouse and cultural representatives from the communities in question.
Stray Beacons is curated by Markús T Andrésson and Dorothée Kirch.
Kópasker-lighthouse
Ásdís Sif Gunnarsdóttir explores how personal identity, intimacy and spirituality functions in modern means of communication and presentation. Her video installations and performances explore the human psyche, armed with a mix of fantasy, psychedelia, humour and contemporary trash. Transformation, disguise and play are essential elements of her work as well as reference to ceremony and rituals. Her explorations in the realm of performance include her pseudo identity as “The Performance Call Girl” who can be reached via Skype for a personal performance. Her most recent practice involves collaborating with actors, artists and performers in the making of her first feature film. Ásdís will exhibit in the modern, square lighthouse in the plains of Kópasker by Öxarfjörður in the North. Born in 1976, Ásdis studied at the SVA in NY and UCLA. Her most recent exhibitions include the Núna Art Festival in Winnipeg, It's Not Your Fault at the Luhring Augustine Gallery in NY, and the debut exhibition of the Reykjavik based Gallery August. Further information on Ásdís is to be found on the artist's web page: www.asdissifgunnarsdottir.com
Bjargtangar-lighthouse
Curver Thoroddsen has reflected his own everyday life in reality performances with the help of the media. Typical examples of his previous works are projects in which he moved into a new apartment, ate hamburgers every day or went on a diet. The real world, as it appears to most of us, acquires new meaning when transformed to the realm of art and media. Furthermore, Curver has painstakingly manipulated his own identity, asshown by his decision to eliminate his given name and adopt instead the brand name of the international plastic manufacturer “Curver”. He will exhibit on the westernmost point of Europe, the cliffs of Bjargtangar by Látrabjarg in the West Fjords. Born in 1976, Curver will complete his postgraduate studies in SVA in New York this spring. He has been active on the music scene, in recent years as one of the progressive duo, “Ghostdigital”. Further information on Curver can be found on his web page: www.myspace.com/curver
Garðskagi-lighthouse
The Icelandic Love Corporation (ILC) has undertaken diverse performances and exhibitions of a fantastic and symbolic character. They have emphasised generosity and hospitality in their work, making sure that there is plenty for the viewer to muse on. In 2007. the ILC celebrated more than a decade's work with a comprehensive overview at the Reykjavik Art Museum, followed by a retrospective book. ILC is the collaborative identity of three artists, Sigrún Hrólfsdóttir, Jóní Jónsdóttir and Eirún Sigurdardóttir, born in 1971 – 73. They have been working together since they graduated from the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts in 1996. They have since respectively studied in Hochschule der Kunste Berlin, The Royal Danish Academy of the Arts, Copenhagen and Pratt Institute, New York City and are currently based in Reykjavik. ILC will exhibit in the picturesque lighthouse of Garðskagi, close to the Keflavík International Airport on the Reykjanes Peninsula. Recent exhibitions include 10 Days on the Island at the Tasmanian Biennial and The Tent Lady's Hospitality in ArdBia in Berlin. Further information on ILC is to be found on their web page: www.ilc.is
Dalatangi-lighthouse
Unnar Örn's works are often objects/parts of larger installations, process- and time-based projects, in which he works in a critical way with his immediate surroundings and artist's role in society. His interest in systems is reflected in his projects where he makes the archival process of different practices transparent. He traces the methodologies of systematizing to times when science and art were not separated but considered as different means towards the same goal. He poses questions on how information is treated and highlights the fact that processing information – e.g. collecting it, organizing it and displaying it - will always shape its perception. Unnar's works might be displayed as accumulations of different material, time based processes and books, often involving personal or institutional collections or archives. He will exhibit in the remote lighthouse of Dalatangi, by Mjóifjörður in the East Fjords. Born in 1974, Unnar Örn lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia and in Reykjavík, Iceland. Unnar Örn's work has been presented at The National Gallery of Iceland, Kling & Bang Gallery, Reykjavík, The Living Art Museum, Reykjavík, Safn, Reykjavik, Gallery Signal in Malmö, Rooseum, Malmö, The Project, Dublin and at the first Prague Biennale. For further information, please visit the artist's web page: www.unnarorn.net