Perpetual Motion

For the Icelandic Pavilion’s exhibition at the 59 International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Reykjavík based contemporary artist Sigurður Guðjónsson will present multisensory sculpture Perpetual Motion. The artwork offers a poetic exploration of materiality at edge of the boundaries of perception, powerfully combining moving images and sound to activate the space and create an entrancing, meditative experience for visitors. The Icelandic Pavilion is curated by Mónica Bello and is located in the Arsenale, for the first time this year. Sigurður Guðjónsson is best known for his striking time-based media works that often focus on man-made machinery and technical relics, investigating their enigmatic, hidden elements just beyond our field of vision. The artist experiments with camera lenses, perspective, light, and motion, amplifying and observing these forms and the transformations that take place as they interact with their environment. Perpetual Motion is staged as a split screen installation, with a six-metre-high vertical screen connected to a large-scale floor projection, that occupies most of the exhibition space. The screens depict the constant drift of metal dust, amplified and magnified through the artist’s camera lens. Visitors can immerse themselves in the movement of the abstract material, as it warps and distorts, suggesting new shapes and imagery such as the surface of an outermost planet. The interplay of sound and vision features throughout Guðjónsson’s oeuvre. The artist uses intricate soundscapes as the foundation of his works, drawing out the acoustic properties of his visual investigations to create a stronger link to the subject matter. Perpetual Motion includes a visceral soundtrack developed by Guðjónsson and Icelandic musician Valgeir Sigurðsson, which responds to the granulated texture of the matter in the moving images using stacked electromagnetic sounds that have been manipulated via granular synthesis. The soundscape fills the Pavilion and envelops visitors as they enter the artwork, forging a deeper connection with the frequencies of the metal dust as it moves and pulsates across the screens’ surface. This project has been realised in collaboration with Mónica Bello, the Curator of the Icelandic Pavilion. Bello holds the position of Curator and Head of Arts at the CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics in Geneva, fostering dialogues between artists, particle physicists and engineers at one of the world’s leading laboratories. Bello’s curatorial work focuses on the narratives in today’s techno-scientific culture and how artists instigate new enquiries around emergent phenomena. Sigurður Guðjónsson is an Icelandic visual artist based in Reykjavík. His work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions around the world, in such institutions as the National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik Art Museum, Scandinavia House in New York, BERG Contemporary in Reykjavík, Frankfurter Kunstverein in Germany, Arario Gallery in Beijing, Liverpool Biennial in the UK, Tromsø Center for Contemporary Art in Norway, Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, and Bergen Kunsthall in Norway. In 2018 he was awarded the Icelandic Art Prize, Visual Artist of the Year, for his exhibition Inlight, commissioned by Listasafn ASÍ, which featured video installations set within the defunct St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland. He often collaborates with musical composers, resulting in intricate work, allowing the visual compositions to enchantingly merge with the musical ones in a single rhythmic and tonal whole. Mónica Bello is a Spanish curator and art historian. Since 2015 she has held the position of Curator & Head of Arts at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research in Geneva. In this role she curates the research-led artistic residencies at the Laboratory and the new art commissions that reflect on the exchanges between artists and scientists at CERN. Most recently, she curated the exhibition Quantum which has been touring different art institutions in Europe since 2018, and was the guest curator of the Audemars Piguet Art Commission for Art Basel 2018. Prior to her arrival in Geneva she held the position of Artistic Director of VIDA (2010-2015) at Fundación Telefónica, Madrid, a pioneering award that explored cross-cultural expressions around the notion of life. From 2007-2010, she initiated and ran the Department of Education at Laboral Centro de Arte, Gijón (Spain). She has curated exhibitions and events across Europe and further afield, featuring contemporary artists, designers, scientists, and theorists of different disciplines. As an internationally recognised figure within art and science networks, Bello is a regular speaker at conferences and participates in selection committees, advisory boards and mentorship programs. Based in Reykjavik, the Icelandic Arts Center (IAC) is dedicated to promoting Icelandic visual arts internationally. Affiliated with Iceland’s Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, the IAC strengthens networks between the visual arts scene in Iceland and the global cultural sphere. Through funding and logistical assistance, the IAC assists Icelandic artists and arts professionals in producing projects abroad and facilitates cooperation with public and private associations, organisations, and enterprises worldwide. The Icelandic Art Center (IAC) is commissioner of the Pavilion of Iceland at the 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia on behalf of the Icelandic Ministry of Education, Science and Culture and has been commissioner since 2007. Commissioner: Auður Jörundsdóttir, Icelandic Art Center Curator: Mónica Bello

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Arsenale

Venice, NY