Fitts & Holderness to Iceland

Over the month of July, 2010, collaborative duo Fitts & Holderness will be artists in residence in the Icelandic city of Reykjavík. They plan to make a new work there which will explore the mythical landscapes of Iceland.

The month of July is the warmest in the Icelandic calendar, with average daily temperatures of 13 degrees. There will be continuous daylight at this time too, so sleeping masks will be on the packing list. New Zealand artsit Joanna Langford was there in 2008, also for a month. The Association of Visual Artists in Iceland runs this international guest-residency programme. In the building where Julia and Emma will be staying there are are also up to 50 studios for Icelandic artists. For more information click here

image: map of Iceland (the country that most people know nothing about), from MapQuest

art talk

As with all Enjoy exhibitions - and seemingly mandatory nowadays - the current show by Fitts & Holderness included an 'Artist Talk'. That is (cough), those involved in the exhibition - be it curators, artists, co-conspirators etc., speaking, presenting, or sharing something interesting about their projects with a captive and (sometimes) inquisitive audience. Informal. Interesting. Not scary at all!

It seems as though, perhaps through the ongoing and torturous critiques of art school, that the 'Artist Talk', for me and others, became arduous and akin to all things stodgy and wind-swept. And while this is sometimes still the case, it's refreshing to participate or be witness to a truly informative, and interesting event; particularly when the presenters leap and bound within a stone's throw from their topic, touching on whatever may keep their, and their audience's attention.

While the one present half of Fitts & Holderness did speak about and elucidate the work in question, she did so with a slightly tangential wandering around some contextual and theoretical background. A previous project: A video work. Snippets of research material: David Bain and others. An unfinished, unofficial publication; suddenly I'm curious as to where my copy of An Angle at my Table has disappeared to...(?) I guess that maybe judging an exhibition by its flier is all too common, in terms of only going to the Artist Talks of friends, colleagues, or big out-of-town names. It's interesting to see how, in general, their potential for idea and thought prompting can function.

Any thoughts?

posted by jeremy

image: courtesy of Hoogrrl! 'best artist talk ever'