Bout: Q&A - Ráðhildur Ingadóttir, Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson

During the exhibition there will be regular artist talks, delving into the making of the works, their subject and production. The works will be reviewed in light of the artists'  oeuvre and the development of video art. Sigurður Trausti Traustason, Head of Collections and Research, and Markús Þór Andrésson, Head of Exhibitions and Education, will speak with the artists and guests are welcome to contribute.

Libia Castro (ES) & Ólafur Ólafsson (IS), working together since 1997 - Everybody Is Doing What They Can (2008)
This work was commissioned by the Reykjavik Art Museum for a series of exhibitions in Gallery A, and was meant to take a critical look at the connection between the museum space and the public space outside the museum walls. The exhibition hall became a site for encounter, production and presentation, where guests could for instance see a recording studio, an editing room and a growing video installation, where Libia (1970) and Ólafur (1973) performed experiments recording screen-tests for the duration of the exhibition period. During this time, they created 35 videos showing “portraits” of individuals from various walks of life of Icelandic society, with diverse educational and professional backgrounds. Participants described themselves, their circumstances and origins in relation to the place where they live, and discussed with the artists their experiences and ideas about everything imaginable, whether that was of a philosophical, personal, or political nature. The work intended to be a portrait of the moment in Reykjavik and Iceland through the people portrayed and their accounts. The financial crash in 2008 hit Iceland while the work was in the make and the site became a place of reflection and contestation during this process. In the installation we see the video portraits rotated in loops and are shown at different times displayed in relation to each other.

Ráðhildur Ingadóttir (1959) Hale Bobb (1997)
In her work, Ráðhildur has endeavoured to mediate her own sensitivities for the cosmic dimensions of the Universe, and humankind’s position within it. In the work Hale Bobb she recorded on one hand geometric drawings of spiral courses, and on the other she recorded data on the orbits of comets and the movements of planets. Ráðhildur then silk-screen printed these recordings, that dwell on the verge of abstract calculations and concrete reality, onto clothing and invited people to try them on. The video records this happening and depicts exhibition guests wearing theoretic speculations that capture universal laws of nature and the infinite expanses of space.

The talk will take place in Icelandic. Free with admission.