Ragnar Kjartansson. The Visitors
Curated by Andrea Lissoni and Heike Munder. In collaboration with Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich
Pirelli HangarBicocca
Ragnar Kjartansson
The Visitors
“The Visitors” (2012) is a large installation consisting of nine video projections on a scale of 1:1. It brings into play the relationships between live concerts, the tradition of performance, poetry, and immersive cinema, based on the repetition and circular nature of actions and settings.
Ragnar Kjartansson’s performance practice has embraced the entire spectrum of art ever since he began. “The Visitors” consists of nine videos on a scale of 1:1, in which the audience sees different musicians, all friends of Kjartansson’s (including Kristín Anna and Gyða Valtýsdóttir, founding sisters of the historic Icelandic band Múm, and Kjartan Sveinsson, keyboard player until 2012 with the famous Sigur Rós). For over an hour, the musicians, each with a different instrument, sing and play the same melody of a song called “Feminine Ways”.
“The Visitors” (2012) by Ragnar KjartanssonPirelli HangarBicocca
The
nine scenes are set in the many rooms of the large, dilapidated nineteenth-century
Rokeby Farm in Upstate New York. The nine audio and video tracks were made
separately but are shown together on large screens. The display has been
specially designed by the artist and curators to emphasize the visual and audio
elements of the work. The audience is thus placed at the center of a
continuous, choral piece.
“The Visitors” (2012) by Ragnar KjartanssonPirelli HangarBicocca
“The Visitors” (2012) by Ragnar KjartanssonPirelli HangarBicocca
“The Visitors” (2012) by Ragnar KjartanssonPirelli HangarBicocca
With its title and concept inspired by the last album of the Swedish group ABBA, “The Visitors” offers a reflection on the theme of the power and persistence of affective ties and of the melancholy and romanticism that are typical of the artist’s Nordic culture. Music is a fundamental element in the entire artist’s work and, as Kjartansson himself says, it is used as “an almost sculptural element”.
“The Visitors” (2012) by Ragnar KjartanssonPirelli HangarBicocca
“The Visitors” (2012) by Ragnar KjartanssonPirelli HangarBicocca
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