Thursday 26 February 2015

Ásmundur Ásmundsson | 18:00 | CCA, Clubroom

Ásmundur Ásmundsson - who works curatorially with fellow artist Hannes Lárusson and anthropologist Tinna Grétarsdóttir - explores their multi-sited exhibition KODDU (Nýló-Living Art Museum/ Alliance House, Reykjavik, Iceland, 2011).

Translating as 'Come Here', KODDU refers to the nation-branding campaign 'Inspired by Iceland', in which they sought to open up in debate the changes in Iceland since the 1990s and their consequences; not just the years of prosperity and the crash but also the politics of culture, freedom of speech, aesthetics and the progression of art itself.

KODDU posed questions for how new forms of cultural policy action drew on reinvented myths of national exceptionalism, utilising artists as agents for spicing up Iceland’s idiosyncrasies to promote its international standing. In this interplay between the arts, the academy, the state and market, KODDU contested the exoticism that Icelandic originality and entrepreneurship are not only comparable to the forces of nature, but can also be traced back to nature itself, rooted in the natural world and finding expression in the individual Icelander and their actions; a distinction that asserts the linkage of Iceland=Nature=Creativity=Art

(video/audio thanks to Stuart Platt)

The World’s Most Beautiful Book

image from:

Beauty And Its Discontents
KODDU Or What Does A Chain Reaction Look Like?
- Debates on Monday #16
Haukur Már Helgason, The Reykjavík Grapevine, December 29 2014