⓪ SÝNINGARSKRÁ TÚNDRAN OG TIFIÐ Á SLÉTTU
01 . Berglind Tómasdóttir
Minni
Verkið byggir á hughrifum sem ég varð fyrir í tanki á Raufarhöfn. Í heimsóknum mínum á Raufarhöfn undanfarin sumur fór ég af og til inn í tankinn og tók inn umhverfið og andrúmsloftið. Stemmningin var upphafin og á einhvern hátt handan tíma. Í þessum heimsóknum spilaði ég á flautu og naut þess að spila inn í og með endurómnum í tanknum. Það mætti kallast þessar stundir dúetta fyrir flautu og tank því hann varð lifandi hluti flutningsins.
Minni -- handan tíma er innblásið af þessum stundum, af tanki sem misst hefur fyrra hlutverk sitt og stendur auður og yfirgefinn, líkt og minnisvarði um fyrri uppgangstíma Raufarhafnar. Á sama tíma hlýtur hann nýtt hlutverk; tankur breytist í ómandi tónleikasal og fallegt sjónarspil.
02. Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir & Mark Wilson
Varðturnar (Raufarhöfn) 2024
Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir og Mark Wilson eru með tvö tengd verk á þessari sýningu – innsetningu í gamla vitanum við sjávarsíðuna og hitt þrjár tillögur að varðturnum sem finna má í Óskarsbragga. Sérhver tillaga er tengd tilteknum hvítabjarnakomum til Raufarhafnar. Líta má á varðturnana bæði sem minnisvarða um þá hvítabirni sem umræðir en jafnframt sem dæmi um hugsanlegan varðturn til að vakta komur hvítabjarna eða annarra vera sem nálgast gætu landið frá sjó. Verkið leggur fram hugmyndir um breytingar á því hvernig deila megi umhverfinu með öðrum lífverum. Það endurspeglar á vissan hátt þær smávægilegu breytingar, tilfæringar og fjárfestingar í velferð dýra sem þegar hafa átt sér stað um allan heim. Hvítabirnir hafa heimsótt Ísland í mörg þúsund ár löngu áður en mannskepnan byggði landið. Þessar breytingar sem verkið boðar gera ráð fyrir að með því að sjá fyrir væntanlegar komur þá mætti að sama skapi skipuleggja þær betur og nota ímyndunaraflið til taka á móti þeim af meiri skilningi og samúð.
Verkið í vitanum nýtir gluggana sem snúa út á hafið. Ljósmyndir af beinum úr einum af tveimur hvítabjörnum sem komu í Skagafjörð í júní 2008 eru límdar á þá. Annar þeirra hvítabirna var 16 ára þegar hún kom að landi og hafði þrisvar sinnum alið afkvæmi áður en hún synti 300km frá Grænlandi til Íslands. Þrátt fyrir að ráðgert hafi verið að ná henni lifandi þá var hún skotin á leið sinni til sjávar eftir að hafa legið örmagna á sama stað frá því hún kom að landi. Til Raufarhafnar hafa komið nokkrir hvítabirnir. Einn rak dauður og fannst í fjörunni árið 1969, árið 1914 er til frásögn af hvítabirni sem var eltur uppi og skotinn til bana og árið 1965 eru sagt frá þykkri þoku og hljóðum sem heyra mátti frá hafísnum er lá við landið.
03. Einar Falur Ingólfsson
Úr Dagbók frá Sléttu
Í þremur heimsóknum á Melrakkasléttu og til Raufarhafnar sumrin 202 og 2023 hélt ég mína hefðbundnu sjónrænu dagbók og skráði í ljósmyndum upplifanir, athuganir og fundi með kunnugum sem ókunnugum. Á síðustu mánuðum hef ég editerað dagbókina og mótað flæði með völdum ljósmyndaverkum, þar sem stök verk tala saman og endurspegla jafnframt hvert fyrir sig upplifanir, mjög ólíkar, sem meðlimur í hópnum, frá könnunarleiðöngrum - bæði í þorpinu og náttúrunni umhverfis, frá samtölum við fólk sem varð á vegi mínum, og af veðrinu ( hluta tímans var ég fulltrúi Íslands í Veðurneti heimsins, fjölþjóðlegu verkefni myndlistarmiðstöðva í 28 löndum).
04. Kristín Reynisdóttir
Frjósemi og hverfulleiki
Ég hef dvalið í nokkra daga síðustu 4 sumur á Melrakkasléttu með ljósmyndavél og teikniblokk, frjósamt lífríkið heillar mig, silungurinn í vötnunum, fuglarnir, blómaflóran, sveppirnir og berin.
Rekaviðurinn sem sjórinn hefur slípað talar til mín, tré sem átti sínar rætur og líf í ókunnugu landi, dró næringu úr moldinni inn í sitt æðakerfi, var eflaust litríkt og gaf af sér til móður jarða. Umbreyting hefur átt sér stað vegna hamfara hlýnunnar jarðar, Holtasóleyin berst fyrir lífi sínu, náttúran hefur tekið yfir og máð hús sem stendur eins og sandblásin klettur sem hefur sinn eigin hjartslátt, bærinn heitir Rif á Melrakkasléttu nyrsti oddi Íslands ber vitni um bjartsýni og stórhug þeirra sem þar bjuggu, en stórbrim gekk á land árið 1934 þannig að túnin eyðilögðust og bærinn lagðist í eyði. Rifstangi sýnir fjölbreytt stefnumót lands og sjávar. Á göngu minn að bænum eru skynfæri mín glaðvakandi, blómin tala til mín, Krían lætur heyra í sér og gefur mér auga ég geng inn í bæinn, finn fyrir samhljóm með fyrri kynslóðum eins og tíminn standi í stað, óhjákvæmileg og af virðingu stíg ég varlega til jarðar.
05. Margrét H. Blöndal
Mylsna / Feed
Samlokupappír frá fimmta áratugnum sogast að mér. Litaduft og olía draga upp línurnar. Náhvalstennur frá Grænlandi verða að einhyrningshornum í fjársjóðshirslum Vatíkansins. Hvorki skyldi vanmeta mikilvægi rótarkerfis né sambýli jurta á einum reit. Háfriðaði fuglinn himbrimi goggar í augu björgunarmanns. Sá reynir í fyrstu að losa hann en síðar æðarkollu því þau eru föst og hafa flækst í sama net. Síldartunnur rúlla á plani og silfurhaf togast að túlli. Sveinungi þenur nikkuna, milli handa hans rúmast sagan öll.
06. Pétur Magnússon
Vél
Þegar ég fór fyrst að halda til á Raufarhöfn var það í fyrsta skipti á ævi minni sem ég bjó alveg við sjóinn. Ég gat fylgst með sjávarföllunum út um eldhúsgluggann. Þetta skapaði alveg nýja vídd í lífinu. Þessi hreyfing sem tunglið veldur. Verkið sem ég hyggst útfæra í sumar norður á Sléttu er eins konar vél sem sjávarföllin hreyfa og láta framkvæma litla athöfn. Ég hef teiknað svona fyrirbæri fyrir nokkrum árum og sýnt teikningarnar en sú útfærsla er alltof stór og flókin til að ganga upp nema sem teikning. Ég hef nú hannað miklu einfaldari útgáfu sem er vel gerlegt að smíða. Hún mun með smá viðhaldi vonandi endast meðan á sýningunni stendur en líklega ekki mikið lengur. Dufli verður komið fyrir í sjónum framan við Óskarsbragga.Utan um það kemur rör með götum á. Sjávarföllin hreyfa duflið upp og niður inni í rörinu. Rörið utan um það vona ég að dragi úr öldugangi og hreyfingin verði jafnari. Stopparar í rörinu takmarka hreyfinguna svo hún verður alltaf söm óháð hæð sjávarfalla. Duflið er fest við stálþráð sem flytur hreyfinguna inn á landið og inn í sýningarsalinn þar sem það hreyfir ausu upp og niður í skál með vatni. Ausan eys vatninu yfir í blómapott með lítilli plöntu og vökvar hana tvisvar á sólarhring.við stálþráð sem flytur hreyfinguna inn á landið og inní sýningarsalinn þar sem það hreyfir ausu upp og niður í skál með vatni. Ausan eys vatninu yfir í blómapott með lítilli plöntu og vökvar hana tvisar á sólarhring.
07. Pétur Örn Friðriksson
Aðstæður
Ég er að skoða náttúru og líf á svæðinu. Sérstaklega mannvist; sögu, búsetu, veiði og samfélag byggt á nauðsynjum.
Hér getur lífið þrifist í hægum takti og þögn. Innviðir eru látlausir í dag en urðu miklir um sig í síðasta bergmáli iðnbyltingarinnar. Ég geri verk til þess að endurspegla, það er könnun. Þetta er mín leið til þess að skoða söguna og umhverfið.
Venjulegt járnmastur með snúningsslá. Ekkert sem glepur augað, gæti verið gagnlegt verkfæri fyrir umferð á sjó eða landi eða til að fylgjast með umhverfinu. Verkfæri til sendinga, samskipta eða rannsóknar. Útlit og hreyfingar í loftinu eru mín sýn á samfélaginu á heimskautssvæði.
08. Ósk Vilhjálmsdóttir
Berlín
“Berlin ist nicht eine Fischerhütte, sondern Ruine”, sagði Ásdís í símann og byrsti sig. Hún var að tala við fulltrúa menningarmálanefndar Berlínarborgar, eiganda húss sem stendur autt og yfirgefið mót hafinu á Melrakkasléttu, nánar tiltekið á Raufarhöfn og gengur undir nafninu Berlín. Það er lítið eftir af Berlín annað en skelin.
Þegar Nína (Katarina Peters) kom á Raufarhöfn til að heimsækja vinkonu sína, Ásdísi Thoroddsen, vissi hún strax að hér vildi hún eignast athvarf. Hún og Ásdís kynntust á níunda áratug síðustu aldar í kvikmyndaakademíunni í Berlín. Nína festi kaup á yfirgefnu húsi með einu fegursta útsýni sem um getur. Húsið var illa farið, en það stóð til að bæta úr því. Þegar Nína eignaðist húsið sá hún fyrir sér bjarta framtíð þar sem hún pendlaði á milli Berlínar og Raufarhafnar. Berlín og Raufarhöfn, það eru varla til ólíkari staðir á jörðinni. Berlín með allri sinni sögu, menningu, klúbbum og fjölmenningu. Raufarhöfn talsvert hljóðlátari en Nína sá einmitt fyrir sér að eiga þar griðarstað frá skarkala stórborgarinnar. Vinna þar að handritum, kvikmyndagerð líkt og Ásdís vinkona hennar. Vonir og væntingar runnu út í sandinn þegar Nína greindist með krabbamein í heila, skömmu eftir að hafa fest kaup á húsinu á Raufarhöfn. Hana dreymdi mikið, og dreymdi meðal annars sjálfa sig ríða nakta á hrúti um Melrakkasléttu og sá víða teikn um hrúta. Hún vissi að þennan draum yrði hún að myndgera. Sem hún og gerði með liðsinni Ásdísar
Þegar ljóst var að Nína ætti ekki langt eftir arfleiddi hún Berlínarborg að öllum sínum eigum, sem voru talsverðar því henni hafði vegnað vel í lífinu og vildi nú endurgjalda Berlínarborg þann stuðning sem henni hafði verið veittur í gegnum sinn feril sem kvikmyndagerðarkona.
Sléttan er líkt og Nína forgengileg, okkur er sagt að jarðvegurinn sé að breytast mikið. Á göngu minni um Sléttuna beindi ég athyglinni að snertingu við mosann, skrjáfinu.
09. Sigtryggur Bjarni Baldvinsson
Himnar og helvíti.
Himininn á Melrakkasléttu er stór og mikill enda skyggja fjöll ekki á hann eins og víðast á Íslandi. Himininn er það náttúrufyrirbrigði sem mest er lesið í. Þar eru blikur á lofti og þar býr Guð. Bændur og sjómenn hafa um aldaraðir horft til himins og spáð í framtíðina af hreint praktískum ástæðum. Það að geta lesið himininn hefur skilið á milli feigs og ófeigs. Þeir sem misskildu himinninn sultu og drukknuðu.
Mestu áskoranir samtímans snúa líka að verðri. Á ferðum mínum um Melrakkasléttu síðustu sumur og haust hef ég séð váboða breytinga í loftslagi, þurrk, fok og rof. Þetta ýtir undir ugg og óvissu um framtíðina, framtíð barna okkar og þeirra afkomenda.
Þessa tilfinningu reyni ég að spegla í stórum vatnslitamyndum af himninum yfir sléttunni. Þetta eru stór vatnslitaverk af vatnslitaverkum að vera en agnarsmá miðað við fyrirmyndina, himininn sjálfann, eins og „krækiber í helvíti“ eiginlega. Þannig líður mér gagnvart vandanum framundan, eins og krækiber í helvíti.
Um hljóðmyndina sér Turous Merula eða svartþrösturinn. Ef við hægjum á söng svartþrastarins verða skilaboð hans óræð
og myrk.
10. Snorri Freyr Hilmarsson
“Hvenær byrjar hljómsveitinni að spila?
Því er haldið fram að trú mannsins á eigin heppni geri jarðarbúa ófæra um að takast á við áskorun eins og lotslasbreytingar, sem byggja á líkum, óræðum tíma og breytingum sem líkast til koma verst niður á einhverjum öðrum “”ekki mér””.
Á Melrakkasléttu sekkur land af jarðfræðilegum ástæðum á sama tíma og sjávarmál rís fyrir tilstuðlan iðbyltingarinnar og kolabrunans sem hún setti af stað. Mannöld í jarðsögunni.
Rif er mælikvarði í þessu efni og þar má rannsaka hvernig land sekkur, hvernig nátúran og lífríkið haga sér við breittar aðstæður. Rif er ekki lengur mannabústaður en dramað, slysið heldur áfram á tímaskala sem ekki er sýnilegur mannlegum skilningi en þó samt.
Hvenær rennur ögurstund upp og hvað fær okkur til að skylja þann tíma og skynja.
11. Sólveig Aðalsteinsdóttir
Kindagötur
Sólveig Aðalsteinsdóttir sýnir 2 verk, eitt undir berum himni á Melrakkasléttunni og síðan 7 kolateikningar sem sem settar eru upp í Óskarsbragga.
Þegar ekið er í norður frá Raufarhöfn má sjá 5 skilti eftir Sólveigu. Á skiltunum eru teikningar sem nefnast Kindagötur.
“Síðastliðið sumar gekk ég um Melrakkasléttuna. Ég gekk eftir örmjóum kindagötunum, lét slóð kindanna ráða för, var með teikniblokk og teiknikol, skrásetti beygðar og bugðóttar línur slóðans. Augun voru ekki á teikniörkinni heldur var athyglin öll á fótinn sem fetaði slóðina á meðan höndin teiknaði. Fuglasöngurinn ómaði í loftinu.”
12. Ragnhildur Stefánsdóttir
Sambýli
Fjallagrös hafa átt hug minn. Þessar sérstöku litlu kröftugu norðurskautsfléttur (True Icelandic lichen) vaxa á Melrakkasléttu.
Fléttur eru samlífi svepps og þörungs. Tvær lífverur sem lifa saman og geta ekki verið án hvor annarrar. Þörungurinn sér báðum fyrir næringu með ljóstillífun og sveppurinn sækir vatn og steinefni fyrir bæði. Skýr verkaskipting og gagnkvæm virðing!
Titill verksins dregur nafn sitt af þessari tilhögun. Samlífi flétta vísar í samlífi annarra lífvera,- samband okkar við náttúruna og hvort við annað. Samlífi flétta leiðir einnig hugann að andstæðum. Þörungurinn er ljósið, sveppurinn er myrkrið. Þörungurinn er undir, sveppurinn er yfir. Andstæður eru skapandi öfl náttúrunnar sem leita jafnvægis.
Flekaskilin á Melrakkasléttu skipta henni eftir endilöngu í votlendi og þurrlendi.
Og þá skaut Þórshani upp kollinum. Sá sjaldgæfi fugl sem heimsækir Melrakkasléttu á svipuðum tíma og mér finnst best að vera þar, á björtum sumarnóttum í júní og júlí. Þórshani kemur hingað aðeins til að verpa. Svo er hann farinn með ungana sína til suðrænna landa.
Mynstur eggjanna minnir á fjallagrös. Eggin verða fjallagrös og ljósleiðarar. Ljósleiðari til að gera þörung fjallagrasanna sýnilegri af því hann er inní og sést ekki. Egg og leiðarar leiddu hugann að móðurlífinu. Líknarbelgnum.
Líkanarbelgur, þunn himna sem skilur á milli inni og úti. Ég breiði huglæga himnu yfir það sem ég vil varðveita.
Verkið Symbiosis er sprottið af samlífi hugsanaferlis og upplifana á Melrakkasléttu.
13. Þórarinn Blöndal
Hólsstígur
Öll setjum við upp einhverskonar gleraugu þegar við skoðum landið okkar og náttúru þess. Smalinn gengur um afréttina og litur hana öðrum augum en ferðamaður nútimans. Við förum í misjöfnum erindagjörðum á fjöll. Leitum að rjúpu, fallegu blómi, kannski kind eða klífum hæsta tindinn.
Mín fyrirætlun er að gera vegamynd um Hólsstíg á Melrakkasléttu en hann er forn þjóðleið sem liggur þvert yfir Melrakkasléttu og er vel greinanlegur stærstan hluta leiðarinnar. Stígurinn liggur í gegnum fjölbreytt landslag þar sem má finna mela og móa, hæðir og lægðir, stöðuvatn og læki. Stór hluti stígsins liggur á háheiðinni í um 120 m hæð yfir sjávarmáli. Hugmyndin er sú að ég gangi Hólsstíg og taki í það 1000 ár með upphafspunkti fyrir ca 900 árum.
Þó að verkefnið eigi að snúast um Hólsstíg mun ég taka ýmis hliðarspor og skoða aðra staði á Sléttunni. En fyrst og fremst langar að rýna í landið og umbreytingar þess útfrá öðru sjónarhorni heldur en mér er tamt og skynja það eins og það er, án fyrirframgefinna hugmynda.
Listamenn:
Berglind María Tómasdóttir, Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir, Einar Falur Ingólfsson, Kristín Reynisdóttir, Margrét H. Blöndal, Mark Wilson, Pétur Magnússon, Pétur Örn Friðriksson, Ósk Vilhjálmsdóttir, Sigtryggur Bjarni Baldvinsson, Snorri Freyr Hilmarsson, Sólveig Aðalsteinsdóttir, Ragnhildur Stefánsdóttir og Þórarinn Blöndal.
Verkefnastjóri:
Julie Sjöfn Gasiglia
Sérstakar þakkir fyrir þeirra vinnu í 2022-2023:
Íris Indriðadóttir og Signý Jónsdóttir
Við viljum einnig þakka öllum sem hafa hjálpa okkur að láta þennan draum rætast og þróast í gegnum verkefnið en ekki síst Áslaugu Thorlacius og Myndlistaskólanum í Reykjavík, Helga Ólafsyni, Óskari Óskarssyni, Hildi Halldórsdóttur, Nönnu Steina Höskulds, Þóru Gylfadóttur, Einari Sigurðssyni, Helgu Stefánsdóttur, Margréti Harðardóttur, Steve Crister, Guðrúnu í Barði, Óðni Hilmissyni, Hólmsteini Björnssyni, Árna í Sveinungsvík, Veraldarvinum, Júlíusi Helgasyni og hans mönnum á verkstæðinu sem og öllum íbúum Raufarhafnar fyrir velvild og greiðvikni.
01 . Berglind MaríaTómasdóttir
Minni
The work is inspired by an old silo situated in Raufarhöfn. During my visits to Raufarhöfn for the past summers I frequently went inside the silo and enjoyed the surroundings and atmosphere. The mood was exalted and somewhat beyond time. During these visits, I played the flute and enjoyed playing into and with the reverberations of the silo. These moments could be called duets for flute and silo because it became an active part of the performance.
Memory; Beyond Time is inspired by these visits, by a silo
that has lost its former function and stands empty and abandoned, as a monument to Raufarhöfn’s past. At the same time, it gains a new role; the tank turns into a resonating concert hall full of magic. The sound recording was done in
St. Jósefsspítali, Hafnarfjörður (another space that has lost its former purpose) in November 2023 by Kurt Uenala. Performing with me is Júlía Mogensen on halldorophone.
02. Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir & Mark Wilson
Watchtower I, II & III
The duo Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir and Mark Wilson have two related works in this exhibition – one installation involves the old lighthouse situated between the town lake and the seashore – and the other, inside the Óskarbraggi building, comprising three proposals for watchtowers. Each of the proposals is related to a particular historical event in which polar bears came to the shores of Raufarhöfn. The watchtowers are intended both as memorials to the bears involved and as prospective viewing platforms to enable early sightings of approaching animals from the sea. This idea signals an imagined shift in the way we humans might regard animals with whom we share the environment, and reflects modest allowances and investment in the welfare of animal others, already in place around the world. Polar bears have come to Iceland for many millennia before the arrival of humans, and in this shift, future arrivals might be planned for and handled by people in generally a more imaginative and sympathetic manner.
At the lighthouse, the windows have been blanked with images of bones salvaged from one, the female, of two polar bears that arrived in the north of Iceland in June 2008. A three-times mother of 16 years, to get here she had swum over 300 km from Greenland. Although some strategies for her capture and release were considered, in the end, though she was fatigued, she got up from where she had lain for many hours on the shore, and on moving back in the direction of
the sea, was shot dead. In one of the Raufarhöfn reports, from 1969, an already dead polar bear was washed ashore here. In another, from 1914, a bear was tracked down and shot and in a third, in 1965, bears were heard bellowing through the dense mist, far out on the sea ice.
03. Einar Falur Ingólfsson
From the Slétta Diary
During three visits to Melrakkaslétta and Raufarhöfn in the summers of 2022 and 2023, I kept creating my visual diary.
In photographs, I recorded different experiences as well as meetings with both strangers and acquaintances. In the last few months I have edited the diary and created, through connecting selected photographs, a certain harmony where the individual images can also stand alone and reflect various experiences, as a member of the artist group, from expeditions - both in the village and in the nature around, from conversations with people I met and of the weather. (Big part of the time I represented Iceland in the multinational World Weather Network, where artists selected by 28 visual arts centers created works about the weather).
04. Kristín Reynisdóttir
Frjósemi og hverfulleiki
I have spent a few days in the last 4 summers on Melrakaslétta with a camera and a drawing pad, the biodiversity of the place fascinates me, the trout in the lakes, the birds, the flora, the mushrooms and the berries.
The driftwood that the sea has carefully polished speaks to me, a tree that had its roots growing in an unknown land, which drew nourishment from the soil into its vascular system, has given itself back to mother earth.
A shift has started to creep in, the Holtasóley (Eightpetal mountain-avens) are fighting for their lives, and as the climate crisis evolves, nature slowly takes over a house that stands like a sand-blasted rock with its own heartbeat.
The farm named Rif on Melrakkaslétta, at the northern tip of Iceland, bears witness to the optimism that once lived there, but when a large wave hit the shore in 1934 it took away what made the place what it was.
Rifstangi exhibits a diverse meeting point of land and sea. As I walk around the farm, my senses are alert, the flowers speak to me, and the arctic terns make themself heard and keep an eye on me. I feel connected to the past, as if time stands still, and tread carefully around the place. few years ago. Its execution would be far too ambitious and complex, but it led me to design a more straightforward version. With little maintenance, it might last for about the duration of the show but its ephemeral nature might not allow for a much longer life expectancy. A buoy is placed in the sea, in front of Óskarsbraggi. As the tides come in the buoy moves up and down, a steel wire attached to it transfers the movement of the ocean onto the land and into the exhibition hall. There, it moves a ladle up and down in a bowl of water, watering a small plant, twice a day.
05. Margrét H. Blöndal
Mylsna / Feed
Waxpaper from the forties found me. Pigment and oil
pull the threads. Narwhaleteeth from Greenland become unicornhorns within the Vatican treasury. One should neither underestimate the importance of the root system nor the cohabitation of herbs and flowers in one square. The Loom – the appeased bird – entangled in a fishing net, pecks at its rescuer’s eyes. Herring barrels roll around. A youngster plays the accordion. The stories flickering between his hands.
06. Pétur Magnússon
Vél
When I moved to Raufarhöfn, it was the first time in my life that I lived by the sea. I could watch the tides come and go, just out of the kitchen window. This created for me a whole new perspective on life. This movement that the moon creates.
The work in this exhibition is born from this observation. I imagined a kind of machine that is activated by the tides and designed to perform a small ceremony. I drew a complex machine and exhibited the concept through drawings a few years ago. Its execution would be far too ambitious and complex, but it led me to design a more straightforward version. With little maintenance, it might last for about the duration of the show but its ephemeral nature might not allow for a much longer life expectancy. A buoy is placed in the
sea, in front of Óskarsbraggi. As the tides come in the buoy moves up and down, a steel wire attached to it transfers the movement of the ocean onto the land and into the exhibition hall. There, it moves a ladle up and down in a bowl of water, watering a small plant, twice a day.
07. Pétur Örn Friðriksson
Aðstæður
What I explore is nature and life in the area. I focus on human existence; history, farming, hunting and society based on necessity.
The life can be here in slow beat and silence. Infrastructure is minimal today but became immense by the last echo of the Industrial Revolution.
I make sculptures to reflect, it‘s a research. It‘s a method to explore situations and history.
It is a rural iron mast with a vertical rotating bar. Nothing to stand out aesthetically, it could be practical utility based on land for sea traffic security or for monitoring surroundings.
A tool for command, communication or research. Its appearance and friction with air is mine extraction of tundra integrated society.
08. Ósk Vilhjálmsdóttir
Berlín
“Berlin ist nicht eine Fischerhütte, sondern Ruine”, said Ásdís on the phone and brushed herself off. She was talking to a representative of the Cultural Affairs Committee of the City of Berlin, which happens to be the current owner of a house that stands empty and abandoned opposite the sea on the Melrakkaslétta, more specifically in Raufarhöfn, going by the name of Berlin. There is very little left of Berlin other than its fragile shell.
When Nína (Katarina Peters) came to Raufarhöfn to visit
her friend, Ásdís Thoroddsen, she immediately knew that
she wanted to have a refuge here. She and Ásdís met in the eighties at the film academy in Berlin. Soon enough, Nina secured the purchase of an abandoned house with one of
the most beautiful ocean views in the middle of the town.
The house was in bad shape, but she planned to renovate it. When Nína acquired the house, she envisioned a bright future, picturing herself commuting across the ocean between Berlin and Raufarhöfn.
Berlin and Raufarhöfn may be some of the most opposite places one can think of. Berlin with all its history, culture, clubs and multiculturalism and Raufarhöfn, much quieter, where Nína envisioned a haven, away from the hustle and bustle
of the big city. She would work from there on writing scripts and developing her ongoing filmmaking practice, just like her friend Ásdís. But fate saw it otherwise, hopes and expectations vanished when Nína was diagnosed with brain cancer, shortly after purchasing the house.
Nína dreamed a lot, and among other things, she dreamed of herself riding naked on a ram through Melrakkaslétta’s plain and saw signs of rams in many places. She knew that she had to make this dream into a film. Which she did with the help of Ásdís.
When it sadly became clear that Nina had little left to live, she donated to the city of Berlin all her possessions, which were considerable since she had been successful in life. She now wanted to repay the city of Berlin for the support that had been given to her throughout her career as a filmmaker. And just like that, Berlin became the owner of this shell-of-a-house that Berlin is, at the very edge of the Arctic circle, in the remote town of Raufarhöfn.
Like Nina, I learnt that the plain of Melrakaslétta is perishable and that we can already witness changes in the land. During my walks in the surroundings, I focused my attention on the touch of moss and sedge.
09. Sigtryggur Bjarni Baldvinsson
Himnar og helvíti.
The sky above the plain of Melrakkaslétta is vast, not overshadowed by mountains like in most Icelandic landscapes. The sky, a widely read natural phenomenon. There are omens in the sky and God lives there. For centuries, farmers and fishermen have looked to the sky and predicted the future. Being able to read the sky separated the wise from the ignorant; since those who misunderstood heaven: starved and drowned.
During my travels through Melrakaslétta, the last summers and autumns, I have seen the omens of changes in climate, drought, storm and erosion, triggering fears for our future, the future of our children and their descendants.
My feelings get reflected in large watercolours of the sky over the plain. These are large watercolour works, but tiny compared to the original model, the sky itself, like “a crowberry in hell”. ‘
That is also how I feel about the challenges ahead, like” a crowberry in hell”.
The soundpiece was composed by “Turous Merula” also called Common Blackbird. After being slowed down, the message from the blackbird’s song takes a darker turn.
10. Snorri Freyr Hilmarsson
“When does the band start playing?”
When does the critical moment come and what makes us understand and perceive that pivoting moment in time? Humans have a genetic evolutionary tendency to believe in their “own luck”, when facing a difficult challenge. That
very tendency is now its culprit, making the inhabitants o the planet unable to face the current challenge of climate change. Changes based on probability, abstract relativity of time and changes that will only affect some “one else” and yet not “me”.
Here, the idea is to bring together well-known history and myth, the condemned engineering marvel of humans, the coal giant Titanic and Rif, to see what that history can teach us about the inevitable: about nature and society. Compare, the collision of ice and coal, before and now.” When does reality trump the idea of luck?
On the plain of Melrakkaslétta, the land is sinking while the sea level is rising. The Human Age has come in the Earth’s geological history.
Rif on Melrakkaslétta is a benchmark in this matter. Rif is no longer a human habitation but the drama, the accident continues on a time scale that is not visible to human experience , yet it is still present.
Here, you can study how the land sinks, how nature and the ecosystem behave, or take the hit, under those changing conditions. The Arctic, of which the plain of Merakkaslétta is a part of, has a story to tell, story about what is happening worldwide if we dare listen to it.
It is said that man’s intuitive thinking is best activated through myths rather than statistics and facts. Here two stories of coal and the Arctic meet, can the timelines of unrelated events be a reflection of each other?
11. Sólveig Aðalsteinsdóttir
Kindagötur
Sólveig Aðalsteinsdóttir exhibits 2 works, one is situated under the blue sky out in Melrakkasletta, the other, 7 charcoal drawings, is installed in Óskarsbraggi
North of Raufarhöfn you can see five signboards by Sólveig. These are drawings called, Kindagötur (sheep-trails).
Sólveig recounts how she walked across Melrakkaslétta last summer. She followed the narrow sheep paths, letting the trails of the sheep guide her journey. With a sketchbook and charcoal in hand, she recorded the curved and winding lines of the trails. She did not look at the drawing paper but focused her attention on the foot that tread the path while her hand drew.
The song of birds resonated in the air.
12. Ragnhildur Stefánsdóttir
Symbiosis, 2024.
Fjallagrös have been on my mind. These tiny yet vigorous arctic lichens (True Icelandic lichen) grow on Melrakkaslétta. Lichens are complex life forms that grow as the symbiotic partnership of fungi and algae. Two organisms become one through mutual support: the algae provides nutrition and photosynthesis; the fungi harvests water and minerals. A clear division of labour and mutual respect!
This work takes it title from the concept of a mutually dependent relationship as with that of lichens, but also our relationship to nature and to each other. . It could be the symbiosic of lichens refers our relationship to nature and each other. Lichen Symbiosis also brings to mind opposites: algae as the light, fungi as darkness. The algae is under, the fungus is over.
The tectonic plates on Melrakkaslétta divide it along its length into wetlands and dry lands.
And then Þórshani (Red Phalarope fulicarius)emerges. This rare bird visits Melrakkaslétta at around the same time I like to be there on clear summer nights in June and July. Þórshani only comes here to lay eggs and then takes her chicks to tropical lands.
The egg ́s pattern recalls for me eminisces the appearance of lichens, when then led to the idea of fusing the - which led to a fusion of egg and the lichen. I split the egg is split in two: one half with lichen and the other a light conductor. Eggs and light conductors bring to mind mother ́s womb, the fallopian tube, and the fetal membrane.
I lay an imagined membrane over what I wish to preserve. The work Symbiosis is born from the symbiosis of thought processes and experiences on Melrakkaslétta.
13. Þórarinn Blöndal
Hólsstígur
We all put on some kind of glasses when we look at our country and its nature. The shepherd walks around the
farm and sees it with different eyes than a tourist does. We go on various errands to the mountains. Let’s look for a deer, a beautiful flower, maybe a sheep or climb the highest peak.
I intend to make a road map of the road Hólsstígur on Melrakkaslétta, it is an ancient national road that runs across the peninsula and is still clearly identifiable most of the way. The path goes through a varied landscape where you can find mela and móa, hills and valleys, lakes and streams. Most of the path lies on the high ground at about 120 m above sea level.
I will walk Hólsstíg going back in time, through 1000 years, starting around 900 years ago. Although the project revolves around Hólsstígur, I will allow for sidetracks and explore other places around the plain. Moreover, I want to examine the land and its transformations from an objective perspective, aiming to perceive it as it is, without preconceived ideas.
Artists:
Berglind María Tómasdóttir, Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir, Einar Falur Ingólfsson, Kristín Reynisdóttir, Margrét H. Blöndal, Mark Wilson, Pétur Magnússon, Pétur Örn Friðriksson, Ósk Vilhjálmsdóttir, Sigtryggur Bjarni Baldvinsson, Snorri Freyr Hilmarsson, Sólveig Aðalsteinsdóttir, Ragnhildur Stefánsdóttir og Þórarinn Blöndal.
Project Manager:
Julie Sjöfn Gasiglia
Special thanks for their work in 2022-2023:
Íris Indriðadóttir og Signý Jónsdóttir
We also wish to thank you for making this dream come true along the way :
Áslaug Thorlacius og Myndlistaskólinn í Reykjavík, Helgi Ólafson, Óskar Óskarsson, Hildur Halldórsdóttir, Nanna Steina Höskulds, Þóra Gylfadóttir, Einar Sigurðsson, Helga Stefánsdóttir, Margrét Harðardóttir, Steve Crister, Guðrún í Barði, Óðni Hilmisson, Hólmsteinn Björnsson, Árni í Sveinungsvík, Veraldar, Júlíus Helgason and his team along with all the inhabitant of Raufarhöfn and neighbouring surroundings.
Minni
The work is inspired by an old silo situated in Raufarhöfn. During my visits to Raufarhöfn for the past summers I frequently went inside the silo and enjoyed the surroundings and atmosphere. The mood was exalted and somewhat beyond time. During these visits, I played the flute and enjoyed playing into and with the reverberations of the silo. These moments could be called duets for flute and silo because it became an active part of the performance.
Memory; Beyond Time is inspired by these visits, by a silo
that has lost its former function and stands empty and abandoned, as a monument to Raufarhöfn’s past. At the same time, it gains a new role; the tank turns into a resonating concert hall full of magic. The sound recording was done in
St. Jósefsspítali, Hafnarfjörður (another space that has lost its former purpose) in November 2023 by Kurt Uenala. Performing with me is Júlía Mogensen on halldorophone.
02. Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir & Mark Wilson
Watchtower I, II & III
The duo Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir and Mark Wilson have two related works in this exhibition – one installation involves the old lighthouse situated between the town lake and the seashore – and the other, inside the Óskarbraggi building, comprising three proposals for watchtowers. Each of the proposals is related to a particular historical event in which polar bears came to the shores of Raufarhöfn. The watchtowers are intended both as memorials to the bears involved and as prospective viewing platforms to enable early sightings of approaching animals from the sea. This idea signals an imagined shift in the way we humans might regard animals with whom we share the environment, and reflects modest allowances and investment in the welfare of animal others, already in place around the world. Polar bears have come to Iceland for many millennia before the arrival of humans, and in this shift, future arrivals might be planned for and handled by people in generally a more imaginative and sympathetic manner.
At the lighthouse, the windows have been blanked with images of bones salvaged from one, the female, of two polar bears that arrived in the north of Iceland in June 2008. A three-times mother of 16 years, to get here she had swum over 300 km from Greenland. Although some strategies for her capture and release were considered, in the end, though she was fatigued, she got up from where she had lain for many hours on the shore, and on moving back in the direction of
the sea, was shot dead. In one of the Raufarhöfn reports, from 1969, an already dead polar bear was washed ashore here. In another, from 1914, a bear was tracked down and shot and in a third, in 1965, bears were heard bellowing through the dense mist, far out on the sea ice.
03. Einar Falur Ingólfsson
From the Slétta Diary
During three visits to Melrakkaslétta and Raufarhöfn in the summers of 2022 and 2023, I kept creating my visual diary.
In photographs, I recorded different experiences as well as meetings with both strangers and acquaintances. In the last few months I have edited the diary and created, through connecting selected photographs, a certain harmony where the individual images can also stand alone and reflect various experiences, as a member of the artist group, from expeditions - both in the village and in the nature around, from conversations with people I met and of the weather. (Big part of the time I represented Iceland in the multinational World Weather Network, where artists selected by 28 visual arts centers created works about the weather).
04. Kristín Reynisdóttir
Frjósemi og hverfulleiki
I have spent a few days in the last 4 summers on Melrakaslétta with a camera and a drawing pad, the biodiversity of the place fascinates me, the trout in the lakes, the birds, the flora, the mushrooms and the berries.
The driftwood that the sea has carefully polished speaks to me, a tree that had its roots growing in an unknown land, which drew nourishment from the soil into its vascular system, has given itself back to mother earth.
A shift has started to creep in, the Holtasóley (Eightpetal mountain-avens) are fighting for their lives, and as the climate crisis evolves, nature slowly takes over a house that stands like a sand-blasted rock with its own heartbeat.
The farm named Rif on Melrakkaslétta, at the northern tip of Iceland, bears witness to the optimism that once lived there, but when a large wave hit the shore in 1934 it took away what made the place what it was.
Rifstangi exhibits a diverse meeting point of land and sea. As I walk around the farm, my senses are alert, the flowers speak to me, and the arctic terns make themself heard and keep an eye on me. I feel connected to the past, as if time stands still, and tread carefully around the place. few years ago. Its execution would be far too ambitious and complex, but it led me to design a more straightforward version. With little maintenance, it might last for about the duration of the show but its ephemeral nature might not allow for a much longer life expectancy. A buoy is placed in the sea, in front of Óskarsbraggi. As the tides come in the buoy moves up and down, a steel wire attached to it transfers the movement of the ocean onto the land and into the exhibition hall. There, it moves a ladle up and down in a bowl of water, watering a small plant, twice a day.
05. Margrét H. Blöndal
Mylsna / Feed
Waxpaper from the forties found me. Pigment and oil
pull the threads. Narwhaleteeth from Greenland become unicornhorns within the Vatican treasury. One should neither underestimate the importance of the root system nor the cohabitation of herbs and flowers in one square. The Loom – the appeased bird – entangled in a fishing net, pecks at its rescuer’s eyes. Herring barrels roll around. A youngster plays the accordion. The stories flickering between his hands.
06. Pétur Magnússon
Vél
When I moved to Raufarhöfn, it was the first time in my life that I lived by the sea. I could watch the tides come and go, just out of the kitchen window. This created for me a whole new perspective on life. This movement that the moon creates.
The work in this exhibition is born from this observation. I imagined a kind of machine that is activated by the tides and designed to perform a small ceremony. I drew a complex machine and exhibited the concept through drawings a few years ago. Its execution would be far too ambitious and complex, but it led me to design a more straightforward version. With little maintenance, it might last for about the duration of the show but its ephemeral nature might not allow for a much longer life expectancy. A buoy is placed in the
sea, in front of Óskarsbraggi. As the tides come in the buoy moves up and down, a steel wire attached to it transfers the movement of the ocean onto the land and into the exhibition hall. There, it moves a ladle up and down in a bowl of water, watering a small plant, twice a day.
07. Pétur Örn Friðriksson
Aðstæður
What I explore is nature and life in the area. I focus on human existence; history, farming, hunting and society based on necessity.
The life can be here in slow beat and silence. Infrastructure is minimal today but became immense by the last echo of the Industrial Revolution.
I make sculptures to reflect, it‘s a research. It‘s a method to explore situations and history.
It is a rural iron mast with a vertical rotating bar. Nothing to stand out aesthetically, it could be practical utility based on land for sea traffic security or for monitoring surroundings.
A tool for command, communication or research. Its appearance and friction with air is mine extraction of tundra integrated society.
08. Ósk Vilhjálmsdóttir
Berlín
“Berlin ist nicht eine Fischerhütte, sondern Ruine”, said Ásdís on the phone and brushed herself off. She was talking to a representative of the Cultural Affairs Committee of the City of Berlin, which happens to be the current owner of a house that stands empty and abandoned opposite the sea on the Melrakkaslétta, more specifically in Raufarhöfn, going by the name of Berlin. There is very little left of Berlin other than its fragile shell.
When Nína (Katarina Peters) came to Raufarhöfn to visit
her friend, Ásdís Thoroddsen, she immediately knew that
she wanted to have a refuge here. She and Ásdís met in the eighties at the film academy in Berlin. Soon enough, Nina secured the purchase of an abandoned house with one of
the most beautiful ocean views in the middle of the town.
The house was in bad shape, but she planned to renovate it. When Nína acquired the house, she envisioned a bright future, picturing herself commuting across the ocean between Berlin and Raufarhöfn.
Berlin and Raufarhöfn may be some of the most opposite places one can think of. Berlin with all its history, culture, clubs and multiculturalism and Raufarhöfn, much quieter, where Nína envisioned a haven, away from the hustle and bustle
of the big city. She would work from there on writing scripts and developing her ongoing filmmaking practice, just like her friend Ásdís. But fate saw it otherwise, hopes and expectations vanished when Nína was diagnosed with brain cancer, shortly after purchasing the house.
Nína dreamed a lot, and among other things, she dreamed of herself riding naked on a ram through Melrakkaslétta’s plain and saw signs of rams in many places. She knew that she had to make this dream into a film. Which she did with the help of Ásdís.
When it sadly became clear that Nina had little left to live, she donated to the city of Berlin all her possessions, which were considerable since she had been successful in life. She now wanted to repay the city of Berlin for the support that had been given to her throughout her career as a filmmaker. And just like that, Berlin became the owner of this shell-of-a-house that Berlin is, at the very edge of the Arctic circle, in the remote town of Raufarhöfn.
Like Nina, I learnt that the plain of Melrakaslétta is perishable and that we can already witness changes in the land. During my walks in the surroundings, I focused my attention on the touch of moss and sedge.
09. Sigtryggur Bjarni Baldvinsson
Himnar og helvíti.
The sky above the plain of Melrakkaslétta is vast, not overshadowed by mountains like in most Icelandic landscapes. The sky, a widely read natural phenomenon. There are omens in the sky and God lives there. For centuries, farmers and fishermen have looked to the sky and predicted the future. Being able to read the sky separated the wise from the ignorant; since those who misunderstood heaven: starved and drowned.
During my travels through Melrakaslétta, the last summers and autumns, I have seen the omens of changes in climate, drought, storm and erosion, triggering fears for our future, the future of our children and their descendants.
My feelings get reflected in large watercolours of the sky over the plain. These are large watercolour works, but tiny compared to the original model, the sky itself, like “a crowberry in hell”. ‘
That is also how I feel about the challenges ahead, like” a crowberry in hell”.
The soundpiece was composed by “Turous Merula” also called Common Blackbird. After being slowed down, the message from the blackbird’s song takes a darker turn.
10. Snorri Freyr Hilmarsson
“When does the band start playing?”
When does the critical moment come and what makes us understand and perceive that pivoting moment in time? Humans have a genetic evolutionary tendency to believe in their “own luck”, when facing a difficult challenge. That
very tendency is now its culprit, making the inhabitants o the planet unable to face the current challenge of climate change. Changes based on probability, abstract relativity of time and changes that will only affect some “one else” and yet not “me”.
Here, the idea is to bring together well-known history and myth, the condemned engineering marvel of humans, the coal giant Titanic and Rif, to see what that history can teach us about the inevitable: about nature and society. Compare, the collision of ice and coal, before and now.” When does reality trump the idea of luck?
On the plain of Melrakkaslétta, the land is sinking while the sea level is rising. The Human Age has come in the Earth’s geological history.
Rif on Melrakkaslétta is a benchmark in this matter. Rif is no longer a human habitation but the drama, the accident continues on a time scale that is not visible to human experience , yet it is still present.
Here, you can study how the land sinks, how nature and the ecosystem behave, or take the hit, under those changing conditions. The Arctic, of which the plain of Merakkaslétta is a part of, has a story to tell, story about what is happening worldwide if we dare listen to it.
It is said that man’s intuitive thinking is best activated through myths rather than statistics and facts. Here two stories of coal and the Arctic meet, can the timelines of unrelated events be a reflection of each other?
11. Sólveig Aðalsteinsdóttir
Kindagötur
Sólveig Aðalsteinsdóttir exhibits 2 works, one is situated under the blue sky out in Melrakkasletta, the other, 7 charcoal drawings, is installed in Óskarsbraggi
North of Raufarhöfn you can see five signboards by Sólveig. These are drawings called, Kindagötur (sheep-trails).
Sólveig recounts how she walked across Melrakkaslétta last summer. She followed the narrow sheep paths, letting the trails of the sheep guide her journey. With a sketchbook and charcoal in hand, she recorded the curved and winding lines of the trails. She did not look at the drawing paper but focused her attention on the foot that tread the path while her hand drew.
The song of birds resonated in the air.
12. Ragnhildur Stefánsdóttir
Symbiosis, 2024.
Fjallagrös have been on my mind. These tiny yet vigorous arctic lichens (True Icelandic lichen) grow on Melrakkaslétta. Lichens are complex life forms that grow as the symbiotic partnership of fungi and algae. Two organisms become one through mutual support: the algae provides nutrition and photosynthesis; the fungi harvests water and minerals. A clear division of labour and mutual respect!
This work takes it title from the concept of a mutually dependent relationship as with that of lichens, but also our relationship to nature and to each other. . It could be the symbiosic of lichens refers our relationship to nature and each other. Lichen Symbiosis also brings to mind opposites: algae as the light, fungi as darkness. The algae is under, the fungus is over.
The tectonic plates on Melrakkaslétta divide it along its length into wetlands and dry lands.
And then Þórshani (Red Phalarope fulicarius)emerges. This rare bird visits Melrakkaslétta at around the same time I like to be there on clear summer nights in June and July. Þórshani only comes here to lay eggs and then takes her chicks to tropical lands.
The egg ́s pattern recalls for me eminisces the appearance of lichens, when then led to the idea of fusing the - which led to a fusion of egg and the lichen. I split the egg is split in two: one half with lichen and the other a light conductor. Eggs and light conductors bring to mind mother ́s womb, the fallopian tube, and the fetal membrane.
I lay an imagined membrane over what I wish to preserve. The work Symbiosis is born from the symbiosis of thought processes and experiences on Melrakkaslétta.
13. Þórarinn Blöndal
Hólsstígur
We all put on some kind of glasses when we look at our country and its nature. The shepherd walks around the
farm and sees it with different eyes than a tourist does. We go on various errands to the mountains. Let’s look for a deer, a beautiful flower, maybe a sheep or climb the highest peak.
I intend to make a road map of the road Hólsstígur on Melrakkaslétta, it is an ancient national road that runs across the peninsula and is still clearly identifiable most of the way. The path goes through a varied landscape where you can find mela and móa, hills and valleys, lakes and streams. Most of the path lies on the high ground at about 120 m above sea level.
I will walk Hólsstíg going back in time, through 1000 years, starting around 900 years ago. Although the project revolves around Hólsstígur, I will allow for sidetracks and explore other places around the plain. Moreover, I want to examine the land and its transformations from an objective perspective, aiming to perceive it as it is, without preconceived ideas.
Artists:
Berglind María Tómasdóttir, Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir, Einar Falur Ingólfsson, Kristín Reynisdóttir, Margrét H. Blöndal, Mark Wilson, Pétur Magnússon, Pétur Örn Friðriksson, Ósk Vilhjálmsdóttir, Sigtryggur Bjarni Baldvinsson, Snorri Freyr Hilmarsson, Sólveig Aðalsteinsdóttir, Ragnhildur Stefánsdóttir og Þórarinn Blöndal.
Project Manager:
Julie Sjöfn Gasiglia
Special thanks for their work in 2022-2023:
Íris Indriðadóttir og Signý Jónsdóttir
We also wish to thank you for making this dream come true along the way :
Áslaug Thorlacius og Myndlistaskólinn í Reykjavík, Helgi Ólafson, Óskar Óskarsson, Hildur Halldórsdóttir, Nanna Steina Höskulds, Þóra Gylfadóttir, Einar Sigurðsson, Helga Stefánsdóttir, Margrét Harðardóttir, Steve Crister, Guðrún í Barði, Óðni Hilmisson, Hólmsteinn Björnsson, Árni í Sveinungsvík, Veraldar, Júlíus Helgason and his team along with all the inhabitant of Raufarhöfn and neighbouring surroundings.