“盡頭”，藝術(shù)家與模特，運(yùn)河邊。
Ragnar Kjartansson，一個(gè)將自己描述為無(wú)可救藥的浪漫者的藝術(shù)家，將代表冰島參展今年的威尼斯雙年展。Ragnar Kjartansson多面的藝術(shù)行為根植于一種表現(xiàn)與表演的傳統(tǒng)，帶有一種存在主義及荒誕主義的敏感，這種敏感使人聯(lián)想起Caspar David Friedrich，Gilbert 和 George。Kjartansson為此次威尼斯雙年展籌備的展覽名叫“盡頭”（The End），以真人造型為主，配合視頻播放及音樂(lè)裝置，并將持續(xù)6個(gè)月直至雙年展閉幕。
展覽將在一個(gè)名叫Palazzo Michiel dal Brusà的14世紀(jì)的宮殿中進(jìn)行，這一宮殿位于大運(yùn)河邊，從2007年開(kāi)始作為冰島國(guó)家館。
在這次展覽上，Ragnar Kjartansson將不懈地為一個(gè)年輕人畫肖像，這個(gè)年輕人將以大運(yùn)河為背景，邊抽煙邊喝酒，而身上只穿著浴衣。6個(gè)月中，Ragnar Kjartansson都將為其作畫，作好一幅就將其放在旁邊接著再做。這一表演的部分原因?yàn)樗囆g(shù)家自身的疑問(wèn)，這一疑問(wèn)暗示著他對(duì)作品于外界關(guān)系的永恒的概念再形成。
而在另一個(gè)單獨(dú)的展廳中是一個(gè)聲像裝置，視頻攝制于加拿大的落基山脈，Kjartansson與他的同伴于其間彈奏著模糊不清的鄉(xiāng)村音樂(lè)。 這個(gè)取自于廣闊大自然的場(chǎng)景，加上自認(rèn)的聲音，與這個(gè)孤立的展廳形成鮮明的對(duì)比。
聯(lián)系這兩部分展覽的主題為創(chuàng)造力，朋友情誼和對(duì)世界的疲倦感。
“我將這個(gè)場(chǎng)館想象成世界盡頭的一座光明之城。它注視著虛無(wú)的邊緣，波浪追逐著迷失的靈魂，大霧模糊了你視線，使你免受來(lái)自地獄的暈眩。這是一個(gè)不知名的海洋，坐在碼頭上的是一個(gè)沒(méi)有命運(yùn)的人。”Ejiksson這樣描繪他妝扮下的冰島國(guó)家館 。
(來(lái)源：冰島CIA網(wǎng)站，點(diǎn)擊查看原文)
【編輯：Julia】
THE END
The official Icelandic representation at the 53rd International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia will feature Ragnar Kjartansson, a self-described incurable romantic, whose multifaceted artistic practice is rooted in a tradition of acting and performance with an existential and absurdist sensibility that can be linked to artists ranging from Caspar David Friedrich to Gilbert and George. Kjartansson’s exhibition for Venice, entitled The End, will feature a tableau vivant of the artist and his model that will last for the entire six-months of the Biennale, along with a monumental video and music installation. It will be presented in the Palazzo Michiel dal Brusà, a 14th-century palazzo on the Grand Canal near the Rialto, which has served as the Icelandic Pavilion since 2007.
Transforming the Pavilion into a makeshift studio for the Biennale, Kjartansson will relentlessly paint the portrait of a young man posing day after day against the backdrop of the Grand Canal. The young man modeling for him will be smoking cigarettes and drinking beer, while clothed only in a bathing suit. For six months, Kjartansson will limit his art production to the painting of this scene. He will produce one work after the other, with the paintings made on previous days left to accumulate in piles around the studio. Though not an idealized version of the artist and his model – such a proposal being disrupted by the incongruous appearance of the Speedo, the cigarettes, and the beer in an otherwise romantic setting – the performance is partially based on questions of the artist’s self, suggesting his perpetual re-conceptualization in relation to his surroundings and previously existing works of art.
In a separate room, a new video and sound installation consisting of several scenes shot in the Canadian Rocky Mountains will display Kjartansson and a collaborator playing an ambiguous country music arrangement on a variety of instruments. Recorded directly in the snow-covered mountains, the music will take on the sounds of nature that, along with the expansive sights and sounds in the video, will be in sharp contrast to the intimate and isolated performance in the adjoining room of the Palazzo. Taken together, the recorded performance in the Rocky Mountains and the live performance in Venice will create a dramatic juxtaposition between two iconic settings. Connecting the two portions of the exhibition, however, are themes of creativity, camaraderie, and Weltschmerz or world-weariness.
Also a part of the exhibition, and in anticipation of the Biennale, Kjartansson and his friend and fellow artist Andjeas Ejiksson began exchanging letters in early 2008 chronicling preparations for the Pavilion. The two artists approached this dialogue from a performance angle, slipping into the roles of two sentimental gentlemen of yore. In the correspondence, which will be published in its entirety in the exhibition catalogue, Ejiksson describes the Pavilion as follows:
“I imagine the Venice Pavilion being a lighthouse at the end of the world, watching the verge of nothingness.Waves chasing the lost souls and the mist blurring the horizon, protecting you from the vertigo of the abyss. It is a nameless sea and sitting on the dock is a man without fate”
(來(lái)源：冰島CIA網(wǎng)站，點(diǎn)擊查看譯文)
【編輯：Julia】
