In English Two – One or Two – Alone, which is the traditional understanding of the relationship of these two words in Icelandic. The title refers to the question of what it is to be together in life and art, while at the same time remaining independent – as artists and individuals. It touches on the eternal existential problem: to be or not to be – together.

Arna Valsdóttir and Aðalsteinn Þórsson create their artworks individually, yet they are still companions in life. They work closely, side by side, but not together. Now, following a four-month joint residency at Chinese European Art Center (CEAC) in Xiamen, they present an exhibition that is more intertwined than usual. These are nevertheless their own works as individuals – or what? Works of both artists materialize from the everyday experience, and in that aspect the exhibition is an interesting attempt to a joint installation.

Arna works mainly with video and draws inspiration from her mother Sigríður’s fascination with a Chinese television channel that broadcasts beautifully shot documentaries on the country’s natural landscapes, cultivation, arts and human life. Arna portrays an elderly woman who has spent long hours in later years with her youngest daughter’s old book of maps from elementary school by her side and an English/Icelandic dictionary, since the TV channel has English subtitles. This has become her greatest joy in life: traveling through the wilderness of China in her imagination, nurturing her longing for beauty. In her own way, she has become something of a sinologist.

Sigríður’s stories are a guiding theme that then intertwine with Arna’s video footage from her time in the country, the everyday China that the visitor experiences during a studio stay. Those who know Arna’s work know that there is little that is everyday about her way of collecting experiences on video, although everyday life is the subject. This is Arna Valsdóttir in China.

Aðalsteinn continues his ongoing project The Personal Collection, which has been his main focus for the past half-decade.He collects “the remains of his life”. The leftovers from his consumption, and possibly by Arna in recent times, those are from the artists kitchen. Aðalsteinn has built a dome, a branch of the Personal Collection here in Xiamen, a bamboo construction on a tiled platform outside the exhibition hall. The structure follows the principles of Mr. Buckminster Fuller. Inside the dome, he displays plastic packaging, leftovers of the stay. He also presents future images from the Personal Collection, at it´s home in Eyjafjörður, made with ink and watercolors on Chinese paper. These images serve as spiritual records of the future and depicting structure based on the same principle as he constructed here in Xiamen, among other things.

In the exhibition at CEAC, the two artists juxtapose their works to build an installation
where something new and unexpected emerges. To be or not to be… with.

The project is supported by: Muggur, a collaboration between SÍM, Myndstef,
and the City of Reykjavík, the Zonta Club, Þórun Hyrna and Erasmus+, EU´s
program to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe.

Gallery