05.07.2013 — 14.07.2013REITIR 2013Siglufjörður (IS)

Concept & production:Claudine ZiaMichael RoloffSophie Haack

What is this Value of CreatiVity?

http://whatisthisvalueofcreativity.info

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What is This Value of Creativity is a conversational piece that embodies the work and participation of the inter-national collaborative project, Reitir. The participants worked with socio-specific exploration through creative projects in public space.

The aim of What is This Value of Creativity was to estab-lish a platform for conversations where participants re-flected upon their engagement with Reitir.

This booklet contains the transcriptions of the interviews. More info: whatisthisvalueofcreativity.info

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Participants Aðalheiður S. Eysteinsdóttir (IS)

Agnieszka Roguski (PO)

Andri Freyr Arnarsson (IS)

Andy Gibson (UK)

Anne Therese (DK)

Ari Marteinsson (IS)

Arnar Ómarsson (IS)

Ben Pickering (UK)

Brák Jónsdóttir (IS)

Claudine Zia (DK)

Freyja Reynisdóttir (IS)

Jessica Fellas (UK)

Jón Einar Björnsson (IS)

Karolina Baldvinsdottir (IS)

Katarzyna Perlak (PO)

Kenji Ko (PRC)

Kristján Einarsson (IS)

Mikkeline Lerche Daa Natorp (DK)

Marie Mirgaine (FR)

Michael Roloff (DK)

Morgane Parma (FR)

Nikolaj Rasmussen (DK)

Omar Al-Zo’bi (JO)

Rakel Sölvadóttir (IS)

Sean Millington (UK)

Sophie Haack (DK)

Vaughan Williams (UK)

Victor Ocares (IS)

William Thiemer (DK)

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Kenji, you are here for the second time. What have brought you back all the way from Hong Kong to Siglufjörður?

Well I think it’s the scenery, because I’ve basically been living in large and intense cities for like 33 years and so you need to get away at some point. So the main attraction is kind of getting away from Hong Kong and moreover Iceland is beautiful. Last year I had such a good time working with a lot with a crazy bunch of people and also I find the Icelandic people extremely nice. So I guess that is the two main reasons for why I am here, again.

So how is it different this year?

Well, I think this is a bit boring compared to last year, because it was the first time so I was really excited about everything, and at some point I think I also got a bit confused the previous year with like, “Oh shit, I am not sure about what to do exactly” and so on. So for this year, having been here before I am kind of more relaxed and just going with the flow. So I think it’s quite interesting to be here for a second time cause of being less nervous, but in the light of this notion I was actually also thinking about not attending because I thought it would be nicer to have another entirely fresh group of people in between the projects. But as we both know, they’ve got some further funding this year, they serve good food and cover most of my travel expenses . . . (Laughing)

Let’s stick with the differences for just another moment and discuss it from a structural perspective. Is it similar to last year or how do you experience this?

It’s very similar. As simple as that.

We know that you’re teaching back in Hong Kong. What do you teach exactly?

I teach full time for a program called Exhibition Design where we usually are working with doing commercial exhibitions such as prop launch, events, or like we throw parties for commercials and so forth. So the students will be learning stuff about form and shape, space, structure, colors and basic design principles. Also, I am taking up a lot of cultural studies which is actually really good since the syllabus for cultural studies is really broad, so I can basically take on all sorts of stuff which is very enriching from a personal perspec-tive as well relating to all of my travels and such.

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Kenji Ko (PRC) — Digital art

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How did you like the initial part of the project this year with the introduction, idea generation and concept development? Do you pick some of these methodolo-gies up and bring it with you back home to Hong Kong?

Yeah, I do actually. It helps me a lot because in Hong Kong the educational system is very different than from here. They don’t do hands-on stuff, instead they use the computer a lot cause of the contractors in the design business where they don’t really have to do things. So when I teach them in such methods I get positive feedback from the student rapports. So participating in Reitir is a really good exchange for me since I’m bringing something back to Hong Kong and not only for myself. Especially referring to the openness and hands-on methodologies.

Tell me a bit about working within such a large group of people. What is it like taking part in such a collaborative structure containing a great amount of demo-cratic processes?

It’s quite confusing to be honest. Especially thinking of last year. Cause most of the time when I do my own work I am doing it solo cause I tend to be quite stubborn around my ideas and so on. Since I returned to Hong Kong from last years participation I’ve been fac-ing this general period of chock and confusion that actually somehow helps me to stay open towards my own practices. So being here really helps me a lot, just to open up and just try out all sorts of new things saying like “f… it, I’ll just do it”.

What do you mean in terms of chock?

Reversed cultural chock. But I’m just happy to be from Hong Kong since I have no imagi-nation of what it would feel like if I was from China. So going back last year seemed just so strange to me since I’d changed since my departure and so had Hong Kong.

We’ve spoken a bit about this before but let my ask to this again. Is this second stay as much an artistic exploration that it is research of educational methodolo-gies? Are your motivations for being here for the second time different or have they developed somehow?

I’m not sure really.. Well, in a way it is because it’s such an open brief and so I am still able to experiment with whatever I want to do. But I really think that the entire project is a bit too short, this year especially. It seems like everyone is rushing towards doing some-thing instead of actually be questioning our efforts or producing something very delicate. So for me this is more like an artist camp where everyone come to get along, have fun and do something but in a short period of time. So in a way everyone is kind of free-styling, I think, which can be a good thing as well but I prefer some more time though.

What time span would you have preferred then?

Well we are doing this for ten days and I think having two more weeks would have been nicer for such a collaborative project cause it takes time to develop ideas really. Now we are just left with one week of work from the brainstorming part.

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So would it maybe have been better to have invited only ten participants for ten days of work?

Yes, I think so. It’s either less invited or an enlarged timespan.

You’ve all been asked to take the context of Siglufjörður into your considera-tions. Is this aspect an obstacle or just an extra drive for your work?

To me it’s actually kind of tough maybe, because I come from afar and it really takes time to absorb the entire history and traditions that follows with this. So last year I didn’t really think much about giving something to the town; I just did things. Being here for the second time definitely makes this premise easier to approach. However, I really think its an impor-tant aspect to the project otherwise the whole activity would be really fluffy, because if you don’t really do anything site-specific, this project could have been situated somewhere else. So it’s a key element considering the locality, for sure.

It’s difficult to measure, but do you think the project is contributing to the town adequately?

No, it’s not giving back enough and I really think this has to do with the short duration of the project. You know, we don’t really have much time to research. This year we’ve done something great and very helpful by been given the possibility to dine with some of the locals in their homes, with their rules, their way and all of that. This was a really good idea, but with more time and further activities such as these, I think the projects would be able to reflect upon the context considerably stronger compared to last year.

Do you sense some sort of violation towards such a peaceful community when 30 people suddenly arrive and are asked to do something under such intense circumstances?

Hmmm, I think so. Well, then a positive violation at least. I think we actually are making some kind of noise in this time, or I’m sure of that. Especially when everyone is drunk and all that . . . (Laughing). So in a good way, yes, but I think people in the town don’t mind and that they actually like that we are here. Like most of the time when I bump into the lo-cals they are throwing back a really nice smile. I imagine living in such a small town where everything is so simple and you’d like things to be different once in a while.

Okay, let’s maybe start wrapping this up with two further questions. First one, if you were in a position to advice or do something different with the structure behind and within this residency, what would you have liked changed just now or/and for the future?

Sean and I was discussing something earlier but it seemed to have slipped my mind. I think I’ll stick with my ideas and opinions toward the durational aspect.

Second and lastly, can you place three words that comes to your mind when thinking of your stay and this project?

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Ha’, it sounds like an english examination. Hmm . . . three words . . . Well, nature … crea-tivity and freedom. A fourth one would definitely be crazy mother fuckers (laughing).

Thanks so much Kenji

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You’re here for the second time on this project. How is it to be back?

It’s really interesting because this year I see the place in a different way. First of all I didn’t want to be a part of the group but when Arnar asked me to come back I said okay. I’d love to come back but I wanted to do something different. So I told him I wanted to be in the kitchen cooking for the group and helping Aðalheiður. About two or three months ago Arnar asked me to be a part of the group and not being in the kitchen.

I was happy to be participating again the same way I did last year, but at the same time I was a bit, not worried but skeptical. I thought about how the project would be because it went so well the previous year. I couldn’t see the group having a complete different vision from what we had at last years Reitir project. Going through those three days of research, I could see that the new members of the project had the same first visions and impressions of the town that we had last year, so the same ideas came back again and that’s what I was dreading. So I guess it’s quite a paradox to be back. However I’m looking forward to see what’s going to happen.

Another difference in comparison to last year is also with the locals. I remember last year it was really intriguing for the town that there was a huge group of foreigners or creative peo-ple around. I feel that their curiosity was a lot more intense and they were coming everyday to see the warehouse. There was a lot more connection with the community in that way.

This year I feel the town is more quiet and silent. The locals are not as much involved and that is a very interesting point cause there’s been a shift in how the community shows interest in the project. There seems to be an increased financial support from the town by providing the project with special offers and sponsorships, etc. But then again, it feels like there’s been a decrease in their physical presence towards the project. This is quite interest-ing since it seems as though they’ve put a lot of trust into us, “We’ve seen what you did last year and we really liked it, here’s some money and we don’t need to check on you any-more.” I don’t know if it’s like this, but it kind of feels like that.

What is it like to work in a large group mixed with newcomers and people from last year?

I think it’s great. I really enjoy it actually. I don’t know why it happened that I’m in a group

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Morgane Parma (FR) — Illustration

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with some of the same people that attended last year. It is actually a bit of a shame maybe. It’s really interesting because there are those who know a bit about the place and know the stories of what happened last year, and then there are the ones who have a complete fresh new look on everything.

You and I spoke about this on Saturday. The concerns and considers of be-ing back… You wanted to step a bit in the background, you said. What is it like now…being in the middle of the project with these pre-considerations that you had? Has it changed or did they come true, these predictions about this being different and all… Now I guess you’ve arrived with some kind of expectations?

It’s actually funny because I had more expectations last year when I arrived. I think it’s because back then I didn’t know what the project was about, there was no brief and I didn’t know what they expected from us, so I was worried like all the newcomers this year. I had more expectations last year, I was trying to visualize a lot more on what we were going to do. This year, I just knew that there was going to be something interesting at the end. It doesn’t matter if it’s a product or something physical or just the experience itself or the fact that we share things between us. So, I came here with a cleared mind especially because I was worried that we would do the same things over and over again. I guess it was like I thought it would be or didn’t think it would be. I didn’t try to think too much before coming here. But I guess for the three days of research what I thought would happen kind of happened, for instance that the ideas dur-ing the presentations on Monday stayed around the herring…

How do you feel about people moving towards the traditional perceptions (i.e. the herring and lupines)…people seem to be trying to implement those tradi-tional ideas and forms within the town. What’s your take on this?

Well, that was my worry but you can’t really blame them. The newcomers were merely discovering the town and its traditions like we did the previous year. I just wish we could have done something completely different, maybe a project that has nothing to do with this place at all but still using materials and sounds from Siglufjörður.

Do you think that you have this idea cause you’re here for the second time or is it an opinion that all the newcomers share as well? For instance creating some-thing that doesn’t involve the town directly?

I think it’s because I’m here for the second time. However, the participants that are attend-ing the project for a second year in a row are still working on the history of Siglufjörður. Maybe it’s a personal thing and the fact that I personally don’t like to do the same thing twice.

Has the structure changed since last year?

It is very similar to last year, although quite different at the same time. The structure is sort of the same, like the party and the three days of research and then we’re free to do whatever

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we want. So the structure is the same, but at the same time it’s very different because it’s more controlled this year.

What do you prefer?

I’d prefer last year. It was a lot more spontaneous rather than this year, but there are things this year that I like a lot.

Such as?

The dinners taking place in local homes, I think were really good. That was a great thing to do and we enjoyed that. And the fact that they made groups so we could work with everyone. Also, the presentations the other night gave a better view of each other and what everyone was doing. It kind of gives a direction towards whom you want to work with or not. Or who you could be more interested in working with.

If you were in a position to advice or to do something different with the structure behind and within the residency what would you have liked to change just now and for the future?

Maybe those three days of research could have been more loose and experimental instead of being so controlled and so “this time you’re meeting with those people and discuss ideas…” It was a bit frustrating to be sitting around a table and being hung-over and trying to discuss ideas. I think it could have been a lot more experimental, maybe, “here’s a group and you guys are going to explore that place and bring back some sounds or whatever you want like flowers or things that could be useful or interesting”…just maybe explore one specific place or do a specific activity…more experimental.

Could you put three single words that describe this years project?

Slow, mixed and grey.

Thank you.

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William Thiemer (DK) — Illustration

William, you’re here for the first time. How is it to be here?

Really exciting, it’s the most different thing I’ve ever done. I haven’t participated in these kinds of projects before. I haven’t met such cool people before, everybody seems to be inspired and that’s great cause it really gets to you and wears off on you. There’s a lot of positive energy and people really work hard.

We know that you spent some time arranging your travels for this project due to financial issues and other practicalities. But since being invited you’ve first and foremost been questioning your participation by asking, “Why me, why should I go?” Have you somehow found an answer to your questions?

I wanted to go because I needed space and I needed to think about what to do. I’ve been asking myself all these questions of what my future should bring. I guess you have to make it yourself instead of just walking around and just waiting for something to happen. That’s the main reason for coming here. And going into this project without any consideration at all was really exiting cause I had no idea of what was going to happen. In that sense it was perfect coming here without any ideas or expectations. So I’m not sure if I’ll attend next year cause I will have all this in my mind, but it will be fun I’m sure.

How is it for you to be among so many people collaborating so directly? Does it free you and does it give you space?

I guess it does. Because it seems like when you’re working with people you don’t know at all; that really gives you this kind of free space. Anything can happen. I were supposed to work with my colleagues back home in Aarhus if not attending this. Here I would have this pre-arranged frame to consider whenever doing a project. This makes it difficult to kick it out from usual patterns and do something new with your work. But being with so many people is something I’m really used to, I’m used to all the noise and activity around me.

You said that you needed some space to clear your mind and then you come here to Siglufjörður, which is a quiet place and with people around you. Is it still a free space despite the fact you are surrounded by so many people all the time?

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Yes, there’s a lot of recreation in it as well and if I need a private space I can just walk away, and this I’ve been doing once in a while, just taking my own time somewhere around. It doesn’t have to be a special place, just somewhere I can be alone for a while and reflect.

You study architecture. Towards this you’ve spoken about your lack of faith in how architecture is being taught for not having established a very creative environment for exploration. How do you like the setup here compared to your experiences with studying back in DK?

I’d really been thinking about that non-creative educational environment…what is that? It sounds dull. I think it’s got something to do with the atmosphere at the school cause I expe-rience a lot of people there not being that creative. And since architecture is a real creative field, it’s just going against my ethical believes. It makes me wonder if I’m actually that creative in that particular school cause I don’t really feel that creative in that environment.

I guess that’s why I’m pissed off with it cause it breaks me. This project however, sets up these very delicate frames of how we are supposed to work and it’s a free space where we can do whatever we like, as long as we work in groups and we have fun. That’s quite nice because anything can happen, and you can always pin out the different themes in terms of “This is an installation, this is a piece of architecture, this is an illustration and this is inter-action between the townspeople.” There are just so many themes going on and it evokes so many questions relating to Siglufjörður, of how to use the space and what to experience in it. I like that compared going to school cause it seems that school is just producing knowl-edge and people to these slaves, I guess. I’m not really interested in that job, sitting in front of a computer all day, I’d rather be active and move out of these frames.

That leads me to one of my other questions, you seem to be very hands-on, ma-terializing your ideas. Yesterday you were quite keen on getting things done and you just told us that you already finished your piece during the night. Is it more possible here for you to be hands-on then within your usual surroundings?

It’s possible for me to be hands-on back in Aarhus, but it’s always ongoing so there’s not always a need to be hands-on back home, even though that is what we do at Institute for (X) – getting things done – but since it’s already there and it’s already happening, there’s no need to do it yourself.

I guess back in Aarhus you get kind of swallowed up by the entire production atmosphere, does it feel more real and honest to you here cause you now have to instigate it on your own and not have to follow the usual flow?

Yes, it really does. Having the space to build something that’s not so beautiful- we took some rotten wood from the scrap yard and put it together. It’s delicate and dangerous, but it still tells a lot of stories since there’s different pieces of wood from different places.

You’ve all been inspired to somehow address your current work and stay to-wards the town. How are you dealing with this, i.e. of giving something back and corresponding with your surroundings?

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The notion of giving something back to Siglufjörður was actually more important to Arnar and Ari than the participants in this project, cause most of us haven’t got any connection to this town at all besides Alþýðuhúsið, Aðalheiðar, Arnar and Ari. I think it’s a sympathetic concept, and I like it because it’s all about giving and creating and not about being arrogant. There’s a lot of respect in it towards this town. And I would say that there should be this respect cause the town is in development and expanding.

Yes, since the tunnel opened a few years ago hope started to flow in the town. Do you feel this vibe?

I felt it when we had the dinner with the locals. Even though the mother wasn’t that good at English and the father didn’t say anything, they told us how it really helped them and how it brought hope that the tunnel was made. And I could see this in their son’s eyes that he’d been inspired by all sorts of potentials that are right here in Siglufjörður. He didn’t seem stuck in mind cause he now has the inspiration of exploring, at least compared to his mother that grew up and has been here her entire life. I am actually able to picture myself living here cause it has a lot; people help each other out, it seems as a good community, but an unhealthy town since the houses here are worn out. It should and could be fixed.

If you were in the position to advice or do something different with the structure behind and within this residency what would you have liked to change just now or/and for the future?

I think I got what I need right here at least for this period of time. I’m very on the go and it’s really nice living in a bag.

Okay, would you kindly place three words that come to your mind to describe the Reitir project?

It’s surreal because of the sun being up all day, the surroundings, meeting people and con-necting with them. It’s provoking in some way as well cause you’re really working hard all the day socializing. And fun – I’ve been laughing so hard.

I have a personal question for you. In the beginning you picked up some scrap materials like different paint peeled of from some buildings. You assembled these into a collage. What’s going to happen with this?

I’m not sure because I can’t move it I guess, it has to stay here. It’s so fragile.

Would you have liked it to be moved?

I’m not sure; I just had to get it out of my system. I found all of these different pieces of paint and I really like discovering these kinds of materials. I like to collect these. Some-times it’s useable and other times I just throw them away again. However, this really spoke to me and those colors seemed so natural and melancholic since it was falling off the build-ings, so I wanted to create something nice out of the scraps. What inspired me was primar-ily the mountains and I really wanted to climb them but it seems somewhat dangerous cause

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you can only walk until a certain point. So I did a collage of the mountains and got them out of my system because I was getting tired of talking.

Thank you William.

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Karolina Baldvinsdottir (IS) — Visual art

You are here for the first time. How is it to be here and what is your motivation for your stay?

It’s great to be here, it’s so creative and to meet all of these creative people, that was my motivation for coming here in the first place.

Is it new to you?

No, I was here on the last day the previous year. I came to see the exhibitions and the foot-ball match.

You’ve recently set foot within the art world. In what way do you conceive this residency to support your general educational process?

It broadens your perspective; you get all these ideas and inspiration from the other partici-pants. I would say that’s the main thing.

Are you taking some things from here back to your studies in Akureyri?

It affects you and of course I will take some back with me, especially things you learn here during the stay.

What kind of things are you referring to in the learning process?

Mostly the conversations, I’d say that’s the most interesting part. When you exchange ideas back and forth they become bigger and bigger, like a snowball effect. Especially when you’re in groups of five to ten people, it gives something. However, when there’s 30 in a group it’s seems more impossible.

This year new and different dynamics have seemed to have emerged. Flexibility has become a key word in describing how you all work together in between the numerous projects. You are amongst the most active participants in this social landscape. How is this and can you describe this a bit?

Everything is so interesting; I really want to be a part of all of the projects. For example,

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today we are not building on the beach project due to the weather, so I’m going to find another group where I can contribute with some work because I’m here to do something.

That’s interesting; people don’t seem to stick to one thing they are working on…

I think this is due to when Ari and Arnar made these different groups the initial days of the project, it seemed that every idea was shared between the various groups. There is no ownership in any project.

It seems to be quite symptomatic and resonating naturally with the structure within Reitir. Is it in any way different from the educational system you attend in Akureyri?

Yes, it is.

There you have to somehow claim your ownership, I assume?

Yes, it kind of makes you claim an ownership.

Do you like Reitir’s setup better?

Yes, much better.

You just entered the final stage of this residency, how are things? Are they different than they were in the beginning?

Of course, when they set us “free” we really started to move everyone.

How is this stage of freedom? Do you get energy from that freedom or is it tear-ing you down?

No, it’s working. We just made a half house on the beach. I don’t like too much structure.

So there’s a healthy balance?

Yes, however I have nothing to compare it with, since I wasn’t here last year.

The residency is part from experimenting with collaborative structures, also striving to inspire all the participants to be addressing the town with the projects. How are you dealing with this, like giving something back to the town? How important is that to you?

We we’re talking about it yesterday, for example the house that we are building on the beach, it’s not involving the townspeople like we want it to. I would really like to involve them more and have their opinion on it. I’m not sure how to though. We were thinking about that many tourists come and park their car right beside the beach house where we are building. And it’s a bit annoying because we’re working there. We thought about drawing

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some sort of line so they couldn’t get in while we’re working but then we thought again, if we did that, then we were not inviting anybody at all. Then we would be closed off, so we chose not to and now the tourists have free access to the working area.

Do you have a strategy in trying to engage with people?

No, not yet. I don’t know how to do it because there are almost never any townspeople walking in that area, its just tourists.

Is it general important to you to connect with the context you’re working within?

Yes, if you want to give something back you simply have to.

I guess that’s what the residency here would like to do. Also, when you practice your work in Akureyri and your studies there…

Always when making art you want to give something; I would say you have to.

Do you want to interact in a more direct way?

It depends on what I’m doing.

So is it difficult to bring a cultural perspective into the projects that are being worked on here?

No, not difficult. If you would like to do it…but nobody is doing it. We talked about it and thought about a lot. The interest was elsewhere.

If you were in a position to advice or do something different with structure be-hind and within this residency, what would you have liked to change just now or/and for the future?

It would be great if they could find five people from the town to get involved from the beginning. Possibly some key figures from town with a lot of knowledge and interest in the project. If they could get them more involved in the projects planning phase; I think that would be my advice.

Okay, so in the initial state to have townspeople with knowledge about what’s going on and what you might be interested in?

What the people in the town might like or what they think about the project or what should change, etc.

Do you miss the voice of the town?

Yes, I do. Also, because they are not coming to the beach where we’re building the house. That will probably change.

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What’s the best thing of this project?

The food. I love Aðalheiður’s cooking.

Can you name three words that comes to your mind when thinking of Reitir?

Creative, conversation, collaboration.

Thanks for chatting.

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Katarzyna Perlak (PO) — Visual art

Kasia, you are here for the first time. Tell me a bit about your motivations for your stay?

My main motivation is that of being able to work with different people on different ideas. Secondly, I like not knowing what’s going to happen, especially when working with others. So the fact that we were asked not to be prepared at all really appealed to my approach and curiosity in general. For me there is really only experience out there for all of us to take. I don’t distinguish between good or bad cause to me every moment is contributing to my development in some way. Everything is experience. So if I attend projects where I for in-stance don’t fit in, it’s still part of my experience, only supporting my growth as a pro and a person too. Also, the fact of knowing that by the end of my stay new work will be produced is one my main motivations for attending this project. I always find my self being more productive when leaving my comfort zone or everyday patterns. My focus enhances.

You seem to have a lot of experience with platforms such as this. How does this differ from the others you’ve been through? If it’s different at all?

Some of the things are similar, but I very much appreciate the structure of it since I find it very well organized. Arnar and Ari are being very supportive with providing us with all the means that take us further with our projects. I think this platform is nicely balanced of how it is organized in comparison to other places where things have been a bit more disorgan-ized.

Also, the fact of not having a fixed subject that you must cling to is really an interesting and relaxed way of working because you are more easily able to work in a spontaneous manner.

I quoted you recently for saying “I just want to get on with things rather than get-ting involved with defining them”. How does this comply with being around thirty creatives within a democratic setting such as this?

It’s challenging especially when you are holding on to an idea that you feel strongly about. So when people listen to this and start suggesting modifications or radical developments then it can be quite a struggle working within this democratic setting. We spoke of this yesterday in the group that I’m working with on painting the wall, because we’ve got mas-sive response and suggestions on what to do with it even without asking for this in the first

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place. Of course it’s very giving with all this input, but sometimes you really have the right feeling about something and then it’s tough to let go. Sometimes I can be quite stubborn or so and very dedicated with wanting to make things happen, but this environment inspires me to open up and negotiate with my ideas and others as well. So, I really like having all these people with different skills, thoughts and interests, sharing their opinions and sugges-tions with me. Working within a group is also enabling a space for playing with your vi-sions, simply because you are more people to produce the work that needs to be done when finishing conceptualizing it.

Compared to last year, a completely different dynamics has seemed to emerge in virtue of everyone being very interested in participating in all the projects and ideas on the table. It’s very organic, flexible and generous. What is this like?

Yeah, there is a lot of appreciation going on. Everyone really cares for one another. It’s strong even though it sometimes can be difficult arranging proper meetings between the groups in terms of trying to enhance the exchange of knowledge and inspiration that flows so vividly around. Right now the project I’m working on seems to be developing in a steady pace so I’ll be able to tag along some of the other projects later on and help them out with finalizing their work. Right now working on the big white wall Ari is actually pushing on another project that I want to finish before leaving this place. It’s just so powerful that he’s attending these matters, providing the means for me so everything is set when I get the chance to spend some time with this work before the project ends. It’s great.

Reitir is part from experimenting with collaborative structures, also striving to inspire all the participants to address their work towards the town to a certain extend, the context that is. How are you dealing with this aspect?

I spoke with Nikolaj Rasmussen about this just yesterday and I like this dynamic of ex-change. Giving and taking in a way. I don’t think there is anything wrong with this aspect of artists producing pieces that somehow benefit the community. It depends on the context though, like in London where I’m creating a lot of my work, there is really limited funding from the arts council unless you explain that what your are doing has a high level of partici-pation revolved around the projects. So many are just bullshitting on their path in search-ing for money, you know, just filling in the box with whatever is requested. And if it’s not coming from the heart I don’t think you should be doing anything at all. Then you shouldn’t waste or spend time in a community only for the sake of spending time on your own and with your own ideas. So, I think it’s important that art involves itself with social structures. It’s a process that it needs to be a part of, I think. You must interact with your context in some way even if it’s in a very subtle way this is being done. Always.

Earlier this week you’ve voiced an interest in developing your own sort of tem-porary project for the future. Is this stay an artistic exploration as much as it is researching on how to assemble and run socio-specific structures?

It wasn’t really intentional that the research also was an aspect of it since I’ve most recently planned to do a similar project in Italy with one of my friends who is an artist as well. It’s been very inspiring to meet and also having this conversation with you, and now I really

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think about initiating one in Poland where I never imagined myself doing stuff like this. It feels very natural somehow and it’s been quite an organic process within me for some time now.

Okay, let’s speed this up a bit and let me ask that if you were in a position to advice or do something different with the structure behind and within this resi-dency, what would you have liked changed just now or/and for the future?

So far I haven’t really thought of anything. If it had been possible to organize these meet-ings between the groups more easily during the time span of production it would have been nice. This is really something for the participants and not the organizers. Otherwise I have only praise towards the project. Everything, especially the food, it’s just amazing.

Okay, now for my last question asking you kindly to place three words that comes to your mind when thinking of this project and stay here in Siglufjörður.

This is quite difficult. Let me see. . . Well, excitement, inspiration and productive.

Thanks so very much.

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It’s your first time here. What’s your motivation behind your travels from London to Iceland?

Well, it’s my second time to Siglufjörður and third time in Iceland, but it’s my first time for this project. My motivation for this project was to get out of London because it’s a city that really weighs you down and sometimes it’s hard to breathe or think. So it was nice to have a chance of getting away and stepping back from some of the things that I’ve been doing, and being able to have a look at what other people are doing. It’s nice but there’s a very odd dy-namic here… I can tell that some don’t like my ideas and I don’t like some of theirs. That’s quite important though, because the place I live at the moment; it’s very difficult giving away or attaining critique because everyone is so pleasant with each other and everything is all good and fine. There’s no sort of criticality about it, it’s just really good. So just being able to get away was the key for me.

Siglufjörður is obviously a very quiet place compared to London. Everyone here knows about everything. How do you deal with that?

It’s difficult because I haven’t experienced it at first hand. There’s obviously been a couple of people that came by, seeing what we’ve been doing which is quite nice, but it’s also amusing being these “freaks” that are in town to do something strange an so on.

How do I feel about it? Well, it’s difficult because I always think that you’re trying out dif-ferent boundaries with someone else’s town and coming here you’re sort of a tourist. Some of the ideas that have been generated are a bit sticky for me, I just don’t think it’s been fully considered… It’s also very difficult with the short duration of time. You don’t get the time to discover everything in order to make a stronger comment. So it’s quite difficult.

Maybe we should elaborate on the duration of this project because others have been commenting as well, that if this project was perceived as a dish it doesn’t quite get the right amount of time to be cooked properly. Is this in case of invit-ing 30 people for ten days only?

It’s because you have that struggle of negotiating thoughts between people. You only get a couple of days to develop ideas and to meet with people before you see yourself trying to make some artwork or something. Then you realize that you’ve got only three days left,

Sean Millington (UK) — Visual art

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so you can’t resolve anything which is also kind of fine I think. However, you need to be aware of that it’s not going to be resolved, so not trying to aim at something really doesn’t make a point. This is why I think we should do a critique of the project, it would be really beneficial for everyone, cause anyone who has thought that they’ve resolved something, I think would be very naive. To get everyone’s feedback, including the locals of the town would make sense and would develop some thoughts on the works that have been made.

In London you live and work in a city where you life is ongoing. The feeling of ending something might not feel as strong as here cause this is an ephemeral space of time. How is it to work against a perspective of something that is end-ing? Do you feel like you have to produce something that gets wrapped up or can you leave it behind with an ongoing process?

I don’t know, I had thoughts of both…

Because you spoke of this open-ended…

Like I said quite a lot along the way, that whatever people make in this project is kind of irrelevant, Reitir in itself is definitely the strongest project, since it’s going to live on for the years to come. I think it’s this kind of energy that is of the highest value.

Your practice in London revolves around curatorial matters, yet you seem not fond of identifying yourself with “being” a curator. You also hold a BA degree in painting but have during your educational process been working a lot with con-ceptual art and installations. Tell us a bit about this pattern of deviation, being on the boundaries of things, i.e. not defining yourself completely.

I guess with the conversation on artist versus curator…I come from a very practical background. There are some things that might bother me about some curators I worked for and with. There’s this separation from it, like it had a rule, and that was something that I couldn’t quite get my head around when I was studying. I went to a school where fine arts was broken down into painting, photography and sculpture. Looking back at it now I had a really misdirected sort of energy. I was questioning why art was broken down in these ways and how history had been formed and how it is now. So I pretty much spent three years try-ing to sort these things out, which looking back, is probably a lot of energy misdirected, but nevertheless I think it kind of fed me with this questioning of the artist/curator role cause I think it’s very blurred. As soon as you start getting an order or organization of what one does; that’s where it becomes stale, you get stuck… I don’t know, ego’s are flying in from all over, and you just want to step back and just state, “Now do something rather than look-ing like you’re doing something. Just sit down have a cup of tea and then do something.”

This deviation or adaptability, do you think it’s important these days being able to adapt and be flexible?

Yes, for me it is. I’ve been talking to Kenji about this. He’s really unsure about the idea of a multidisciplinary artist.

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Maybe that’s due to his context in Hong Kong where it’s difficult to maneuver?

I totally agree, but he was talking about these disciplines that you already have. Like how I struggled with the art school, I asked him to think of these other roles like how curators are doing as much artwork and not necessarily using paint or anything else, but are using differ-ent mediums, i.e. conversations, people etc. It’s important to have this confusion of things because I think we’re on a quite modelled-up context. I think we need to find a way out of this and I think it kind of slowly is. Ideas are being broken down, fixed, re-selected and then put together again.

Yes, it’s a process of building up and tearing down… Let’s talk a bit about the concept of production, more precisely the notion of doing nothing. This is some-thing you’ve stated several times during this residency. You mentioned that to do nothing might just be the product of this stay. It might even be enough. I’m especially referring to the dinner you had with the families. I reckon there was a girl asking you, “What are you going to do here?” And you said, “Maybe we’ll just have a cigarette and cup of coffee and that’s it.” I’m sure you have something in store or a point with this because you also mentioned this if Arnar of Ari were to leave for the week and come back, maybe you would have just done nothing?

Yes, with this project there’s such an expectation of things to happen. And then to do noth-ing is something that completely provokes the idea of something in the first place. It’s quite an old idea but I think it makes a point. Can you repeat the question please?

Yes, when you say ‘do’, it seems to be very much loaded with a sense of being active. Then you pare it with ‘nothing’ which is quite the opposite. Is it maybe important to step back and not violate or overproduce stuff just because there is this expectation of actually doing something?

Yes, that’s exactly the point. I use that idea of expectation like some people are using wood or nails. I think it’s a strong point. For me strong artworks or things I’m interested in pro-voke something; that’s what I sort of want to achieve. It’s to provoke an idea, and I don’t mean that in a negative way at all, it’s just to get you to think. It could be for good purposes or it could be quite antagonistic. My question is, how strong is that ‘to do’ really.

Antagonism; would such an approach be misplaced in a context like this?

No, I think that’s irrelevant like the structure that exists here. For instance, working on the flag pole; there’s a distinct pattern between the public spaces and the private ones. To define that as an idea; it became such a typical thing. If you just had a look outside, you’d see the use of the flagpoles in the public spaces and the ones in the private to be completely differ-ent from one another. My point is that maybe…I think it was Victor that said, “This is what it’s like, this is how it is and no one sees that.” And that was precisely my point; you do something antagonizing and maybe just highlight the point a little bit for people to reflect on that; there is quite a difference going on here.

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How do you incorporate this stay with your daily praxis? Is it as much an artis-tic exploration as it is researching for how to organize these semi-institutional structures? It seems to me that you work with a lot of people organizing and producing immaterial things on a daily basis?

I’ve been very inspired by how people work. Like I mentioned earlier, where I’m based at the moment, which is in Peckham South London, there is this hub of people who all know each other and it’s becoming a really trendy place but it’s also very comfortable. And just cause someone knows someone polishing their reputation without really having any critical idea about their works; I think that’s a very unhealthy tendency for anything exciting to grow. So it’s really refreshing, and it’s been hugely beneficial for how I can develop the things I’m doing in London.

Do you have any advice on something you would like to change now or for the future on behalf of this project?

The project has a nice starting point but it can become stale, the open-endness of the pro-ject…it can only go so far just as being open-ended I guess, in various ways, but maybe what Ari and Arnar could do is to invite other curators or anything. It would be interesting to invite someone else to take that role and then they could select the people to come here with other ideas and agendas. That could produce something quite different I think.

Three words that comes to your mind to describe the Reitir project?

Money, pussy and homo’s!

Ha’. Thanks!

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What is your motivation for participating in this project?

I think I always look for creative events because I work in cooperate settings back home, and on any scale I would like to be involved in projects that re-nurture me with inspiration. Arnar was also a main motivation, he is a friend of mine back from the university. And the project just sounds like a good idea from all aspects.

Art and re-branding: You mentioned during the presentations on Monday night, that you would like to re-brand the town’s cultural heritage (i.e. the herring) be-cause one of your main goal was to appeal to a younger crowd. Can you elabo-rate more on that?

What I noticed about the older generation of Siglufjörður was that they have a direct con-nection to the herring history, however the younger generation does not seem very keen on the idea of celebrating something that once existed and does not exist anymore. Going to the herring museum was a bit heart wrenching, it wasn’t a nice experience at all because there was a death of a glory feeling to it. And I just felt that the town is known for its her-ring, but as history tells us there was a collapse in the 1960s with the fish industry in the town. So that is why I always feel that there should be some awareness about re-instigating cultural relevance, and interest in the younger generations in order to keep a certain, not identity, but a piece of history.

How does it feel to work with people that come from a wide field of interdisci-plinary practices, such as a fashion designer, a mathematician, filmmakers and photographers? Is this something that is within your usual framework?

Yes, bearing in mind when I was at the university in London I kind of went through the same thing where I was surrounded by likeminded creative people, not so specific as within this project, but there was a let down at some point because I imagined that people would give their input based on their skills or disciplines they practiced on daily basis. However, what happened was that people were escaping from their comfort zones and we all ended up in one comfort zone. I find it fantastic because the creative dialogue is not about what you can do or cannot. It’s good, but I was specifically hoping for Reitir to have more de-fined rules in terms of which creative field people are coming from.

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Omar Al-Zo’bi (JO) — Design

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In your presentation on Monday night, you said that you wanted to give some-thing “back to the town”, what are you thoughts on that?

It was actually Arnar and Ari that mentioned this quite clearly actually. From my conversa-tion with Michael who attended Reitir last year, it was something that Arnar and Ari were not clear about; this thing of giving something back. Yet they did not want to force an idea, i.e. of giving something back to the town, but it kind of gave a good shape to ideas and peo-ple wanted to create things as relevant as possible for Siglufjörður specifically. However, I think of what we are doing is merely a pitch to think about evolving into a certain direction because we are not setting up a business or anything, but we are trying to examine how we can bring herring back in a cooler way.

The project evolves around social interaction and group participation, where do you place the aesthetic dimension within this context? My question here is how you define aesthetics in terms of your own work as a graphic designer?

I try to keep the aesthetics relatively as the end product because I think it is very damag-ing to think of aesthetics and execution at a very early stage, one should have a bigger idea where the aesthetics can seep through beautifully rather than implementing the aesthetics when working with these kinds of projects. I did not want to fall into that even though I think that I did. Yet again, as a graphic designer I’m mainly interested in typography and I found that there was a lack of interest, like nobody was writing anything except for the mural that one group is working on, and so I helped them with choosing a font and so on.

You’re an art director for a larger advertising firm, is this project something that you feel you can use in your own practice? This is in terms on the participatory part of the project.

Yes, but I don’t do it directly, however all of these collisions of different ideas and brains are inspiring. It’s an eye opener.

Is this your first residency in general?

No, I had one in Lebanon it was called All in One Box, it was also a workshop. It was clearer of what we were going to do there.

You don’t think it’s clear here?

No, because when you tell a bunch of artists what to do they’re not going to do it. Yet again, when you don’t tell a bunch of artists what they are going to do, they don’t do anything. I think that Reitir is going to enhance year after year and find a prober model for creating a healthy structure. They want to give freedom but also want to keep things at hand. It’s extremely immense, things are all over the place, someone should put their foot down for the good of the project not just for the case of bossing people around. I would probably be bossing people around if I was the one in charge . . . (Laughing)

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How do you see this project? As an art project or collaboration? How would you define this project, if you were given the chance? Ari and Arnar has defined this as an “International Collaborative Project”. What is your take on this?

I think they have a point by saying it’s a collaboration. I know that there’s the hipster need of being counter culture to all that is a standard, but at the end of the day it’s called art. Fur-thermore I don’t think the work takes enough simmering to be cooked into quite a meal to be called art. However, I think it always gives you that rugged feeling of a working process.

Would it help if the time was expanded, i.e. let it boil and cook properly and for a little longer?

Yes, I think it would be extremely interesting if you actually give people the chance to come with an idea because you never know when they might bring something with them and see how this is being developed. What happens is that we’re on an extremely tight schedule, but yet again not acknowledging it all. There’s a lot of lost time, there’s a lot of meetings which I don’t think should be the case. It should be more about becoming the “do’ers”. I think that everyone should get more preparation. What is working out for you guys is that you knew that you were doing the documentation of the book, so when you came you came on a mission which was gorgeous and obviously working out for you. However, for the others in the group it takes three or four days to figure out what is going to happen. So time is definitely the key, and you could win some time by giving them a heads up before arrival instead of keeping people longer.

You just made me think of the case when you visit a new country, when you en-ter a hostess’ home and you bring a gift. It would be interesting to bring some of your cultural mindset to Siglufjörður because in this town the eye and ear never sleeps and they all know what is going on, so they would also know about what you would be bringing. That’s actually an interesting thing, bringing some culture specifically to a town.

Of course, we need to respect the Icelandic culture and identity. Yet again, you also have to see how you can contribute from other cultures and not merely on the cliché matter east meeting west. Morgane had a very interesting point on this; she said that when we do the recipes for the herring project I think we should use non-Icelandic ingredients for the herring. I asked her why and she said, “what’s the point of international artists then”. Yet again it’s interesting to see it from an outer perspective, i.e. how it’s for an Arab to be in this town. The whole point of international collaboration when you bring creative’s from overseas is to see their visions and to let them bring their cultural perspectives with them. One of the other interviewees described the residency to be very Scandinavian. Maybe this can be avoided by letting people arrive with their culture and blend-ing different national qualities?

I think a very good model to look at is Mediamatic based in the Netherlands. I’m mention-ing this because I’m leaning towards this. It’s basically a collective of Arabic designers that either reside or work there for a specific amount of time. I don’t know if you know of

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Hema, this Tesco sort of store, what they did was to invite this group to work on adapting, and transforming the Hema font into an Arabic one and re-creating the products as Arabic. I thought of this work being very interesting having created this kind of added value made by some from abroad. Also, someone mentioned that it would be interesting looking into how others would lead this project if the leadership were given to someone else than Ari and Arnar in terms of them not having to feed into the same thing over and over again. I guess that would be a very interesting point for people to invite some kind of guest editor’s behalf of the project.

Would you here at the end be so kind to place three words that comes to your mind when thinking of this project?

It’s a creative puddle simply because it just sounds clever. Ha’. No seriously I get this im-age of a large group of people all jumping into the same puddle and all getting filthy and greasy which in the end creates this very interesting experience. I think I’ll just stick with this image if that’s okay. Perfect!

Thanks so very much Omar

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What’s your motivation for being here?

First of all, my stay is based on my CV since I’ve just finished my studies and was work-ing on my own for a long time. So now I am really up for collaborations and to not work theoretically all the time. And well, I think this is a nice location to see how things are go-ing to work and evolve between the participants. Also I was invited by my friend Katarzyna Perlak which of course is a great part of it too.

I have quite good experience with these kinds of workshops. Sometimes they can be a bit “too much” but on the other hand I really do benefit from them.

This “too much” thing, does that relate to our previous conversation where you spoke of this excursion-feeling that you sometimes get when attending struc-tures such as these?

No, maybe it’s something personal, I don’t know. Maybe everybody have a bit of this, but it’s really intense being together with so many people doing more or less the same things all the time, and this is just an emotional thing that isn’t always that easy to cope with.

Is there any specific motives for coming here?

Actually no, I’ve just never been in Iceland before and so I was curious about that and the project also just seemed to be nice. That’s it, quite simple actually.

During the week you’ve shared with us some of your work and on-going practic-es based in Berlin. You’re working along with a few others exploring the interdis-ciplinary field of knowledge, conveyed on a visual and spatial level; what’s your interest in these semi-institutional structures and is this trip also feeding into your own pool of research towards these matters?

I think it’s just good to have different angles and perspectives towards one certain topic, and I work with this method where I first have an idea of the topic, and then try to find different people who searches for different perspectives. So in the end, you have something interest-ing happening. I’m also writing, so of course I hold an interest in doing something that will last in one or the other way. With this curatorial thing I want to make something happen that

Agnieszka Roguski (PO) — Interdisciplinary

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in the end will disappear. It will not last but it’s accessible for a moment. I also would like that these kinds of things wouldn’t so much be merely for the art world, even though I think this shift of notion is no easy process.

What is it precisely you wish wouldn’t be as much for the art world only?

You know in Berlin we go to these openings and all that sort of stuff. There it’s quite usual that you always meet the same people which more or less is about socializing which of course also is quite nice but it’s … Well, you can also just go have a beer. So you know, this is what I would like to be more open or possible to change but it’s a bit tricky, this social aspect within the arts, because I am also taking part in this sort of discourse and that’s a bit difficult to get away from. Of course, you could also just do things like social projects about and with immigrants but it’s the same thing cause then you reach also only that specific group. I don’t know . . . I think that every field kind of has its own language and I try not to overdo that meaning; not only to speak in that cryptic language. It is extremely challeng-ing getting away from this when also thinking about writing academic texts so that you not only do hyper-academic texting or just put it out there in a too plain and simple way, like the newspapers for instance. This is really a balancing act that you need to be aware of and which I find to be a really interesting maneuver.

You just mentioned to be familiar with these platforms. How does this differ from the others you’ve attended, if it differs at all?

I think the structure is new to me referring to the first three days where you have a fully packed program, than to be substituted with a super free space of time. I am more used to taking part in a mixture of this structure where every day is balanced with some fixed and non-fixed time for your work. In comparison, it’s more extreme here in a way in relation to this strong distinction between free and fixed time split up in days rather than between hours.

True. Well, you’ve only been within the free space for like two days now. Do you experience the different impact between the two stages of time?

Well, freedom is a very tricky thing because freedom sounds so exquisite, we all want to be free. But on the other hand I think we are never able to be free, there will always be some kind of leadership happening and the question is what kind of leadership is it now, since breaking off with the fixed program. This really interests me. I am not suggesting that there is all sort of power structure flowing around all the time, this sounds so paranoid, but I believe that we are never in a position where we can really do anything that we want. I think the idea is that we can do anything we want with whomever we wish to. For me it has turned out not to be so because within this project everyone seems to be doing everything, having created this super flexible dynamics which I don’t think is as positive as it’s being perceived among the groups.

It’s true, in comparison to last year a new sort of collaborative pattern has emerged being about shuffling around between projects and taking upon vari-ous roles as well. Can you elaborate on this?

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I’m curious about it since it helps things to grow in very unpredicted ways. Having that said, I also think that it can be kind of problematic if you have an idea and really want it to happen, it can be challenging to motivate other people. Since one of the three or four rules is not to be working on your own it’s still quite tricky, this flexible pattern, cause you are not able to count exactly on one another’s commitment. So it’s not so easy trying to organ-ize things when people are on the move all the time.

So are you suggesting that this is a potential obstacle for moving on with your ideas and efforts?

Yes, I think so. There are some groups apparently getting along quite well because their idea is kind of clear and that makes the next steps equally clear. They know what needs to be done, by whom and when. But the projects are still under development so this flexibility can be kind of tricky. I’m more interested in meeting with all these people and retaining more with developing ideas and sticking with this uncertainty for a bit longer; moving away from creating unimportant or immature results. It can of course be nice to achieve these results, but I mean, the idea was to have these unfinished projects and not to produce master pieces which is something I really like about this project. But yeah, when you are patient with things and not so clear for a long while during the process, it can be challenging to work within this transient workflow.

So is this a matter of patience and maybe a lack of time also? Do you somehow get lost in time?

No, I don’t think it has to do with time from a relative perspective. I think some of it could be done in two days or so. If we all had something very much up-scale in mind, it could be useful to have some more time. But we don’t. So it’s not about lack of time but a lack of commitment . . .

Commitment in what way? Relating to time, energy or just in general?

It’s a social thing because everyone is committed to anything; to this one idea we’re fo-cused on. In the beginning everyone were kind of flipping around trying this and doing that, and then you suddenly grab and stick to something. So in the initial phase when you think some people are with you on something, then all of a sudden you discover to be alone with your own idea. This has happened to a few already, that they somehow feel alone about pushing the project. This might turn out differently in the end or at least I think so.

As everyone else you knows this project eludes from calling itself an “art pro-ject”. What’s your initial opinion towards this?

I think the whole town is like, “here are the artists”. Some might feel relieved by not work-ing under defined terms cause then you can simply call it whatever. In the end of the day we all know it’s going to be perceived more or less the same because we are not selling fish, you know. People are really simplistic in their observations and as soon as they see a large group of people producing something that seems to be quite useless and maybe abstract,

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what else should it then be than art. I’m not stating that art is useless but we are not here to establish a business.

During the week you’ve vaguely introduced the concept of this also being a “typical capitalistic project”. Can you clarify this?

Well there is the big discourse right now. In Germany you call it the “projekt-polis” refer-ring to the greek term of defining a city. It somehow covers the idea of this large mecha-nism of things that never ends and just goes on an on by actually just instigating processes all the time which never really stops, cause when you’ve ended a project, you are already in the middle of something else. This of course instills more productiveness which I think is important that we call it. Then again, we must ask ourselves what productivity really sug-gests. I think projects are meant to be more open, more within a flow and can be more like a draft or something. This “polis” is this huge web of knowledge, production and contacts that you can enter in so many ways, and do so many different things with, a project where it’s not really linked to one institution or one certain job you are doing. You are suddenly able to do many things at the same time.

Also for me, a project is something that actually doesn’t really exist because projects consists of this vision you have and not actually what you are doing. So you envision something and strive to reach there in a very etymologic way. It’s like a draft or some kind of projection. It’s actually not meant to be a real thing happening, you don’t call it a job or something - this very unclear thing relating to this vision is always out of reach.

Earlier you spoke of “the simple life”, for instance in relation to the people from this town having a simple perception, am I right?

Well I do as well. I don’t want to have this division between the townspeople and myself. So, I was referring to that if you are not involved with art or this project, then once you think of it it’s really quite simple as it is complex. These things are more easy, cause here there aren’t that many distractions in comparison to capital cities. With this in mind I think this is one of the main reasons why residencies or projects like Reitir takes place in small towns since a settled context helps you not getting distracted, lost, confused or whatever. In places like these it’s not about arriving to Berlin or London to see something specific. Here it’s more about working together and getting down with the project or basically meeting the other participants. Of course we meet and engage with people in the town, but in a very different manner than usually.

Does your projects or other activities usually derive from necessity or provision? Maybe this is referring a bit to the discussion upon production, like would you gladly wait it out, being patient with initializing a project? Or like Sean Millington said the other day when he was asked at the dinner table during his visit with the locals, “Maybe we’ll just end up having a smoke, drinking our coffee and then do nothing. Cause maybe it’s for the best.”

I’m not sure if this really answers your question, but I really think that we all want to be productive in this Zeitgeist. This has something to with a mental atmosphere, a lifestyle and

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certain values we all have and share. I think to be productive is one of the most important things happening right now. Not in terms of earning money or carrying out a good job but be productive in a really private manner. Even if we would just be hanging out and relax, we are very much eager to do the “right” things when filling out our private space and time like reading the right books, going to the spa or doing meditation. Things that just nurture our life in a more meaningful way. Content based things. It’s not only about relaxing but to relax well. It’s always about this way of how we do it and how we represent it and how we fill this empty pattern. I would say that we belong to a generation that is filled with many empty patterns because we don’t sustain to tradition or uphold fixed structures, such as get-ting married, going to church every sunday or things like that. So we are somehow bound to the representational thing. Our inside suddenly flips and becomes the outside, you know what I mean? It’s really about just showing and telling.

Okay, we soon reach to the end of this conversation. Let’s continue by me asking if you were in a position to advice or do something different with the structure behind and within this residency, what would you have liked changed just now or/and for the future?

Katarzyna Perlak and I have actually been trying to establish these kinds of meetings within the disorganized stage of this project but without any luck though. We seem to have dis-covered that the processes going on all over and around, really aren’t as transparent or open as we’ve thought they would be. It’s really difficult to meet in an organized way, so you’ll have to somehow tag along if you really would like to know what is going on. I think this is a shame cause there is the potential of having a far stronger exchange going on between the groups working here. So my advice would be to underpin a stronger transparency or setting up a more fixed structure during the entire week. It’s still very interesting how things emerge all by themselves and mutate during the process, so I really don’t know if I would have done things differently. With my experience so far with this project, I think it would be nice to have had a slightly more fixed structure towards the environment of exchange.

Okay, would you please put three words towards this project that comes to your mind?

It’s exciting. So, exciting. Loose and . . . Scandinavian. Sorry! Cause I really don’t like these national-things. I really mean it in a positive way so please let me explain it to you. Taking it all back to my childhood as I was introduced to Scandinavia, my impression was that it being somewhat nice, and everything was really good, etc. It’s not really super excit-ing or adventurous, messy or chaotic like in Poland. In Scandinavia it’s all good. And also people are drinking a lot. Pyhhh. It’s even more compared to other residencies. There’s beer all over the place. I know what it’s like to be around that much alcohol from my Erasmus semester staying in Poland. But this is really immense. I thought it would be like a detox since everything is so expensive up here but it’s totally the opposite. Here everything is nice. The food is very good and the whole setting is extremely friendly, really. It’s friendly in a very genuine way. Hugs all over the place. I don’t think that everything is working out that well but it’s really a nice one.

Thanks so much.

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How does it feel to open up your doors for a second time for such a large crowd of people?

It feels nice. When I builded this house I decided that it was supposed to be for other people than only myself. So having the chance do such a thing feels really good. This project is a great opportunity of opening up the house and put into full function.

Is this to be regarded as your way of giving something back to the town and place where you were born?

Yes. It’s definitely one of the ways. The purpose of the house is to give back to be frank.

How is it being an artist yourself and not participating in this project but merely to help out on a practical level?

Well, it’s not hard at all because I am not approaching this project as an artist but as a chef, host, mother and a friend. So it is not my creativity I bring to the table. Food, that’s all. I do have hopes in being able to support this group and younger generation of artists contribut-ing with my knowledge and experiences. And so for me it’s a little bit like teaching where I provide the means with housing, tools and other practical resources I hold in store. Also, I put in my connection with the surroundings and my well-developed network; if it’s to any good for the participants. So it’s just like helping with pushing some buttons towards trans-forming peoples ideas into what they are striving to create.

Since you are kind of floating around in the background absorbing all the con-versations and activities, can you tell me if there are some differences compared to last year?

People are more synchronized somehow. They are more acting and working like one group and somehow they all seem to be on the same page or so to say. Last year the weather condi-tions were a lot better, and so I think this pattern evolved quite naturally in the sense that no one has been able to work from early morning till late at night. It’s been more revolved around sitting down and talking compared to last year when the groups started to act slight-ly earlier due to the weather. I think everything this year also will be done in time because people are so helpful towards each other and asking in between groups if they need any help.

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It’s quite unique in comparison with groups being more separated during the final phase. So the level of compassion and generosity for each other is very interesting to experience this year. I’m sure everything will turn out to be really nice in the end.

Speaking of the turnout, this project is somehow trying to address or give some-thing back to the town. How do you feel that this is contributing to the current cultural development that seems to be going on in this town?

When you enter people’s home to go dine and converse with them, that’s a really big step in the direction of trying to include and engage with the town. By just doing that, I know that the entire community will be much more intrigued and interested in the project. Because when you enter one home the rumor will spread to the following twenty neighbours. This quickly accumulates an extended positive energy towards the project. Both the participants and townspeople seemed to be very pleased by entering this social activity. It was very fruitful and thus we should be doing more of those kind of things, becoming visible and be more performing in the town; like seeking out where the people are, such as in the grocery store, bakery or postal office. I think we must strive to inspire everyone with producing and showcasing all sorts of diversity and new ways of thinking. Something that is very much needed since people just stick with their usual patterns and daily routines. We must inspire and share the notions of a different way of living. In a tiny and yet not established project such as this, it is of course not able to change by itself but with patience all things might just change at some point.

One of the participants shared with us this notion of all the group projects to be fairly irrelevant and pointing at the project itself to be of main importance. How do you feel towards this?

I agree. Also just the fact that such a large group of people are walking around makes a huge impression and difference in the town. We are not used having Arabic or Asian people walk-ing the streets everyday around here in Siglufjörður. So in all aspects it is very giving for this town to be the host of so many people at the same time. I also feel that it works the other way around, since most of the participants have never experienced such a quiet and small place before. It’s very giving and fulfilling.

Reitir is announced to be an “international collaborative project”. People hold different passports seen from a practical perspective, do you then feel that the different cultures are being left out in terms of the participants being asked not to prepare or bring anything?

Well you can never leave your cultural background behind. It’s who you are. So I think you bring it no matter what. To ask participants not to prepare themselves before arrival is a really clever idea because most artist that I know are really selfish and stubborn when it comes to their own work and collaboration with others. You really need to put every other thing aside in being able to fully cooperate with others than yourself. It’s very good to have it like this, but why not try it out for one of the years to come and se what difference it would make. It worked out okay last year and it’s working out brilliantly this year. Some struggle a bit with this premise in the beginning, but when they get used to it, I think they realize

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how beneficial it really is and can be. So for this year the newcomers of course feel differ-ent from the ones being here for the second time. I am really looking forward to next year when the entire project and returning participants have developed even more than from this year. Then I think time will be spent significantly different and more efficient somehow, since the group will not need the same amount of time to prepare themselves before “doing” something. It really takes around ten years for a workshop of this kind to be established and make a significant difference with its efforts appealing both towards the people behind the structure and the participants arriving.

Right now it’s very experimental which is just a very natural and important thing when you are developing something from scratch. When developing such a thing over the years to come you also run into the challenges of not becoming too structured and adapted towards the context, etc. This is where inviting new people suddenly becomes the key element in preserving the experimental aspect and originality within the project.

So in terms of getting involved with the town I think that there is a potential to be done even more than this year. I know that things like these really just need to be developed naturally and not be forced at all. When you don’t have a very strong tradition or venue for visual arts then the growth really needs to be full of patience, respect and caution like you would raise a child of your own. If you do a good job an interest will somehow emerge over the years, I ’m sure of that. Small steps are the right steps for this project and the town too.

What’s your opinion of the project not stating itself to be an “art project” and instead leaving it with a more open definition by phrasing itself to be an “interna-tional collaborative project”?

Well, I also went through this period of time where I didn’t want to use the word “art”. This was around my mid or late twenties like where most of you guys find yourselves just now. Then I grew out of it and started using the word “art” like I do today.

Why didn’t you make use of it at the time?

Because I thought of it being superficial. I think that more or less every artist finds them-selves passing through this phase at some point during their life, until one realizes that this word “art” simply is just the word you use to describe what you are doing. It’s just like when you are sitting down in a chair, then you say and know that you are sitting down in a chair; because that is what it is. Of course I’m aware of the misuse of the term among many people, like the word “gallery” does not really have any meaning these days, but these are the words we use to describe our practice and efforts during our professional lives.

Do we need a new vocabulary for these matters for the future?

Noooooo no. We must simply just stick to the words that we have and continue calling things what they are instead of being so afraid of them. We must just show confidence in what we are doing. So of course it’s an international collaborative project, but for all of the things that I’ve seen being done so far simply belong to art. So if you call it art or not it doesn’t matter. It is art . . .

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Okay, well lets maybe continue with some of my last questions by asking if you were in a position to advice or do something different with the structure behind and within this residency, what would you have liked changed just now or/and for the future. Do you miss anything?

No, not really. I fully enjoy being placed on the sideline all able to observe the different as-pects of the project. I’m just happy being able to meet with all of these wonderful people and I really love spending time within this project that’s so full of energy. It’s very two dimen-sional in the sense of being very giving and receiving at the same time. It’s interesting taking part in the process, but I’m also aware if something bad or wrong is going on. Then I speak my mouth with full trust and support from the guys behind the activities. It’s really a healthy relation going on and I think that everybody is doing a great job.

Lastly, would you be so kind giving away three words that comes to your mind when thinking of this project?

Friendship . . . It’s mostly friendship. Free spirits. And artistic way of thinking.

Thank you!

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