The 12th Edition of Reykjavik’s Beloved Biennial Encourages Visitors to Slow Down

Taking pause is an overlooked and rarely valued necessity in today’s hectic landscape, and an art world where a cyclic rhythm of fairs, biennials, and mega exhibitions run the gamut is among the sectors that deeply necessitates a cherished break. Perhaps no city ignites the desire for a slow-down like Reykjavik, the coastal capital of Iceland, where a breezy calmness blows through quaint streets of colorful chimneys and energetic crowds in modest huddles. The return of the Sequences biennial earlier in October translated this lingering sentiment across the city into art with a dynamic ten-day run.

Curator Daría Sól Andrews selected the theme of pause through pure observation of her surrounding. “Here, we are more attuned to this idea of living slowly in the everyday sense,” she tells Galerie. After a deep dive into the subject, the Icelandic-American curator naturally found herself thinking about the social connotations of slowing down and the privilege to be deemed entitled to rest. The show which features around thirty artists and collectives is separated into three thematic categories that explore experiential, political, and natural resonances of time.

Overall, Icelandic and international artists, such as Sheida Soleimani, Sasha Huber, Rhoda Ting & Mikkel Bojesen, Ragna Róbertsdóttir and Sigurður Guðjónsson approach the topic from various angles, including its connection to power, refusal, and care, with materials that often feel recognizable to the local fabric. Adopting Reykjavik’s spectacular flora and fauna, the show occupies multiple venues such as the Nordic House, Marshal House, National Gallery of Iceland, and the Reykjavík Art Museum, hosting the artists’ materially diverse statements in line with the city’s singular energy. Besides its human level, Andrews also thrives to expand her thesis on lull to ordeals outside of our discernible world, raising awareness to fungus universe as well as the glaciers and volcanoes that envelope the city. “There is a big contrast between fast and slow here,” explains Andrews who notes the rapidly melting glaciers and eroding landscapes against the city’s inherent tranquility.

A standout is the Fischersund Collective’s multi-sensory and participatory installation which occupies a large portion of the Marshall House with resin, wax, rope, scent sculptures as well as silver gelatin prints, video, and sound in a darkened room. Decay is their anchoring proposal with scents that chronicle various stages of a plant’s demise in addition to photographs of the same inevitable process. Composed of the members of the Birgisson family which includes alternative pop band Sigur Rós’s lead singer Jónsi, the collective members house their olfactory-focused practice at their beloved perfumery Fischersund in the heart of Reykjavik.

“You can evoke any feeling with scent,” says one of the Birgisson siblings, Lilja. “We are quick with eyes and start analyzing and being critical but there is something special about smells that tell stories more effectively.” In the same building, the Iranian-American artist Sheida Soleimani utilizes the visual punch of photography to summon a similar contemplation on memory, of those that are both traumatic and hopeful. The Rhode Island-based artist captures her political prisoner parents who both fled Iran during the Islamic Revolution through their own likenesses as well as props that include paper sculptures and a real rooster. Between harsh realities and staged storytelling, the artist’s starkly-colored photographs freeze time while prompting an invitation to ponder on the future.

At the scenic cultural institution Nordic House where the views of a lush grassland meet an open sky, Rhoda Ting & Mikkel Bojesen attempt to encapsulate deep time through stately sculptures in glass, ocean floor sediment, stainless steel and lights. “We are fascinated by deep time as an abstract concept,” says Ting who remembers a geologist telling her that if we put both of our arms up the human existence merely equals to a fingernail. The Copenhagen-based duo was exposed to the Arctic life upon an invitation from a scientist to reside on a floating lab which cuts through ice to explore marine life. Their 4 a.m. gravity core experiences on the remote ship yielded them ocean floor sediment that dates back to 12,000 years ago. They later returned to their studio to collaborate with a Danish glassblower to create the show’s trio of fluorescent forms which embody life from immeasurable distances and time.

Andrews notes that the overlap of her project with her pregnancy played a key role in her meditation on time and repose. “This project has been following my journey into motherhood which, I believe, influenced my way of thinking about slowing down,” she says. “I started thinking about privileges around time and what we want to give our time to the most.”

Sequences VII: Pause runs at various venues around Reykjavik through various dates.