LIGHT INSTALLATION AND VIDEO ART AT KEFLAVIK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
A new light installation and video work by Haraldur Karlsson, Brain, has commenced at Keflavík International Airport. Haraldur’s contribution is the third and last in a series of three exhibitions curated by Kristín Scheving at the invitation of Isavia, the airport operator. The previous artists whose works were displayed this year are Sigrún Harðardóttir and Ásdís Sif Gunnarsdóttir. The project is a pilot series in which the lighting system at Keflavík International Airport is utilized in juxtaposition with video art. The works explore the possibilities of connecting light and video in ways that bring an element of presence to the visitor’s experience of the location as well as an exploration of the capabilities of the moving image that are especially fitting in the non-place of an international airport.
Brain (2014-2067) is a light installation and video work that Haraldur Karlsson created specifically for Keflavík International Airport. The piece consists of a video shown on a screen in the centre of the building in conjunction with the lighting system in the ceiling, where the flow of colours and motion of the lights have been redesigned by Haraldur.
In Haraldur Karlsson’s Brain, the beauty of modern technology enables a poetic choreographic voyage inside this intensely studied and remarkable organ. The work on the screen is substantially based on the brain’s form. The viewer is taken to the inner spheres of the brain where our world is received through nerves and processed into knowledge and awareness. The ceiling piece, however, is essentially based on the operation of the mind and speculations on the nature of thought. Thinking patterns, brainstorms, and chemical reactions are transformed into a variety of shapes, masses, lights, and movements which experiment with the viewers’ boundaries of the familiar yet unfamiliar galaxy inside our heads.
Haraldur Karlsson (b. 1967) has specialized in experimental video art for the last couple of decades. He holds a diploma in Mixed Media from the Icelandic Art School in Reykjavik and a BA degree in Media Art from AKI (Academy of Arts and Industry) in Enchede, The Netherlands. He also studied Sonology at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague. Between 1999-2009, Haraldur worked at the Icelandic Art Academy as head of Media Lab. Haraldur is currently based in Oslo. He has had numerous exhibitions, performances and lectures both in Iceland and abroad.
More information on Haraldur Karlsson can be found here.
More information on the art series and the artists involved can be found here.