I’m starting to think I need to create a new blog just to cover the tremendous amount of art in Reykjavík. If you missed the first two installments, check out Part I and Part II. In Part III of this series, I’ll be discussing some outdoor (read: free) art, so even if you’re on a tight budget, nothing in this post will cost you a króna.
Óþekkti Embættismaðurinn (Monument to the Unknown Bureaucrat)
The Monument to the Unknown Bureaucrat is now not so unknown after it was moved by then-Mayor Jón Gnarr to a prominent spot beside City Hall. Gnarr himself is an interesting character. He became famous as a comedian, actor and radio star who formed a satirical political party in 2009 as a backlash to the financial crisis that hit Iceland especially hard, called the Best Party. #BeBest The Best Party was really meant to be a joke, but when they ran some candidates in the 2010 elections, they ended up winning 6 out of 15 seats on the Reykjavík City Council and Gnarr was elected mayor. One of his first acts as mayor was dressing up in full drag and acting as the Grand Marshall of the Reykjavík Pride Parade.
It follows that Gnarr would enjoy this Kafkaesque statue by artist Magnús Tómasson and save it from the small alley where it had previously been hidden away. The statue both glorifies the worker drones, while at the same time evoking sympathy for the oppressive burden they carry on their shoulders from their meaningless lives.
Sólfar (Sun Voyager)
There is a paved biking/walking path that hugs Reykjavík’s waterfront and the Sun Voyager is one of its most well-known stops along the way. Jón Gunnar Árnason created the piece in 1986 as a representation of the boat he would like to sail into his dreams. It is both a fantasy and a studied work of traditional Icelandic Viking vessels. Árnason ends his inscription of the sculpture with: The sun ship gives us a promise of primeval land. You can, once again, sense those intense connections Icelanders have with their history and the water encircling the island nature.
Einar Jónsson Sculpture Garden (and Museum)
After trekking out to the Ásmundarsafn, the home-turned-museum of sculptor Ásmundur Sveinsson, I didn’t think anyone would be able to rival the famed Icelandic artist’s works. And then I went to the Einar Jónsson Sculpture Garden and was blown away. Jónsson was commissed by the government to create statues of famous Icelandic historical figures, many of which can be found throughout Reykjavík, but his true passion was delving into the spiritual and cosmic sides of Norse and Christian mythology. His personal works were meditations on death, old age and the changing seasons; he often used images of Thor and other Norse gods in the explorations of these themes. There is such beauty to be found in even the most grotesque of images, as in “The End” shown above.
This last work was in dedication to Hallgrímur Pétursson, one of the most revered Icelandic poets from the 17th Century. The nearby Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavík’s tallest and most easily-identified building, was named after him.
Whilte the sculpture garden is free, the museum in front is not. I attempted to check it out several times during normal opening hours, but the doors were always locked. Perhaps it was closed for renovations, but I would have gladly paid the admission after being so wowed by the works in the garden.
þúfa
When the fishing company HB Grandi was given permission to build what many considered an unsightly facility on the northern edge of the harbor, they was an added stipulation that they had to finance a piece of public art that would help keep the view of the harbor natural and beautiful. A contest was held in 2013 and Ólöf Nordal emerged victorious. She created Þúfa, an Earthen temple to meditation and inner peace that incorporated traditional Icelandic turf house building techniques. You can traipse up the spiral pathway to the top where you’ll find a shack containing dried fish heads and the much more pleasant view of Reykjavík’s waterfront. [Note: Remember that Þ/þ is pronounced as “th” and not “p,” making Þúfa sound like “thoo-fah.”]
Street Performers
Even the streets of Reykjavík were brimming with performers, and not just the usual strain of busker singing an acoustic version of “Don’t Stop Believing.” I ran into this wacky troupe several times. Upon each meeting, I discovered them doing something new; regardless of the acting prompt, so committed to their roles were they, that I never was able to ascertain the group’s name!
This particular day, they were wandering the pedestrian thoroughfare as an odd assortment of different pairings. There was a steak, who was paired with a woman dressed as a glass of wine; an older, aristocratic man chasing after a young woman in evening dress; another woman with a clock on her head saying, “tick tock tick tock” over and over next to a green solider with a gun. They didn’t even appear to be working for tips. It was more like an acting exercise or college drama club activity.
As joyous as it was to be surrounded by a society that so values the arts, there was also a bittersweet aftertaste when reflecting upon the general lack of support and interest in the arts back in the United States. Witnessing the depressing state of politics in my home country sink lower and lower by the hour, I recently asked a friend, “What has become of morality? Of compassion? When did so many Americans and politicians decide these ideals no longer had a place in our government?” One of the missing links has to be a lack of exposure to the arts. The medium doesn’t matter- painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, opera, symphony, drama- the arts teach us about communication, understanding, human connection and yes, compassion. It’s no coincidence that Iceland has one of the most evolved societies in the world, where equality prevails in all areas. As American society continues to devolve at an alarming rate, maybe by reintroducing the arts to a new generation can we help reverse the trend.
