Konstfack Degree Exhibition 2015 / Vårutställning 2015


Master  •  Art in the Public Realm / Fine Art  •  Harpa Dögg Kjartansdóttir

Harpa Dögg Kjartansdóttir





Harpa Dögg Kjartansdóttir
b. 1982, Iceland

Summarizing 512 Objects Into One Paragraph and a Footnote

To begin, there was one.
Then there were a number.
Each had a moment. A moment partly remembered.
Each one had something to say.
What once was said, became a fading shadow;
An echo in the atmosphere.
Each taking part in a collective dialog.

In my artistic practise, I collect objects that become my archive. This collection of objects with different qualities, can be rearranged and composed in different combinations, gestures and conversations. The location is the starting point for each work and the space is taking part in the dialog.

I consider everything I do connected, not just because it all come from the same head but also because one thing leads to another. It is a continuous process, like everything else in life. Everything is connected in one way or another.

The act of collecting is like a game. The object gets abstracted from its function. If I use a refrigerator to refrigerate, it is a practical mediation: it is not an object but a refrigerator. And in that sense I do not possess it. What is possessed is always an object abstracted from its function and thus brought into relationship with the subject. The objects refer to one another and together they make up the system through which the subject strives to construct a world, a private totality.

Summerar 512 objekt till en paragraf och fotnot

Till att börja med fanns det en.
Sedan fanns ett antal.
Var och en hade ett ögonblick – ett ögonblick som är delvis ihågkommet.
Varenda en hade något att säga.
Det som en gång sades blev en bleknande skugga;
Ett eko i atmosfären.
Varenda en deltar i en kollektiv dialog.

Jag anser att allt jag gör är sammankopplat, inte enbart för att allt kommer från mitt huvud, men också för att en sak leder till en annan. Det är en kontinuerlig process, som allt annat i livet. Allt hänger ihop på ett eller annat sätt.