"Entity" was created for the exhibition "Skynjun" in the series "Spark Plugs" at the Icelandic Academy of Arts.
The work grew in a process of exchange with the painter Alice Nadjarian.
The work grew in a process of exchange with the painter Alice Nadjarian.
Research Video #1
Research Video #2
The third and final exhibition in the Spark Plugs 2016 series presents pieces by the artists Sebastian Kraner and Alice Nadjarian. The show is a collaboration of two very different artists. The name of the exhibition, Skynjun, or perception, describes the two artists’ individual approaches to a set of shared themes. In the heart of the work lies the idea of a transformation realized through different ways of interpretation. As a neutral starting point for the collaboration, the artists’ take on ideas inspired by the unique Icelandic landscape. The country’s omnipresent nature provides a subject for a cross-medium show, which combines painting, video and sound into a flowing artistic exchange. The gallery room has been extended by opening a doorway into the Master students’ working space. To serve as inspiration and as common starting point for the show the artists’ have chosen a stranded rock named Skarfaklettur (e. Cormorant rock). Formerly a skerry, today the stony landmark is located close to the shoreline in Skarfagarður. Between 0,8 and 1,6 million years old, Skarfaklettur is an impressive, yet secluded sight discovered only by those who happen to pass by it. Drawn to the rock’s solitude, Kraner and Nadjarian construct their personal yet harmonious perceptions of the location through different mediums.
Kraner presents a video piece of the stranded geological formation where as Nadjarian interprets the scenery by drawings realized en plein air. These two diverging yet not opposing approaches to the subject exhibit private perceptions as a means of reminiscence. The ambiance of Skarfaklettur becomes reconstructed through subjective experience which then transmits to the observer. Another collaborated piece inspired by the same location focuses on the idea of transformation with the help of combining mediums. Nadjarian’s sketches of Skarfaklettur and it’s surroundings are adapted into experimental musical compositions by Kraner. By interpreting the visuals as sound the drawings experience a metamorphosis between dimensions. The third collaboration is inspired by a series of photographs Kraner took during his first visit to Iceland in 2012. The landscapes are then interpreted by Nadjarian’s steadfast yet gentle strokes of paint. Finally, Nadjarian’s used color palette is taken by Kraner who transforms it into a new piece through a reversal of the working process. By literally breaking the palette into pieces, Kraner separates the colors from each other and restores them back into independent units of pigment.
Artist picture taken by Chloe Kritharas Devienne