Nap

A tourist takes a shady break on a bench in a tiny park right by Hallgrímskirkja. There used to be a house on the lot, a ramshackle cottage that was torn down a few years ago and replaced by roll-a-lawn. I pass this lot almost every day (a wall of the college where I teach is in the background) and certainly did not expect it to stay empty and green for as long as it has. With the addition of of a couple of arty sheep silhouettes and a bench, it's now a proper park-ette, though as is only visitors take advantage of its idyll.

Was the land bequeathed to the city, I wonder? Is there some green benefactor purposed with sprinkling small gardens about town? Nice thought, and with the same healthy benefit as our pop-up Heart Park, which I wrote about in 2009, and again last year when street artists took it over with urban style (note that the brick wall in the first link is the 'canvas' in the second ; )

Grass, trees, some benches and art...has there ever been a better combination to soothe a city's soul?

Skuld

One of the beautiful mythological works at the Einar Jónsson Museum. Einar was Iceland's master sculptor of the last century, and the museum, located just to the west of Hallgrímskirkja, is a lovely piece of art deco architecture designed by the artist himself. This sculpture, named Skuld, or Fate, and many others can be found in the garden behind the museum, which was once his private residence.

Please also take a look at the web site of a friend of mine, Hrafnhildur Arnadóttir, who was recently awarded the Nordic Award in Textiles and who has shown her work at New York MoMA, on the top floor at 7 World Trade Center and as a Macy's NYC window display. She has also created pieces for Björk, Lady Gaga and Nike.

She presents under the name Shoplifter (as the story goes, she was trying repeatedly to pronounce her name for someone at a loud party in New York and all that person could hear was "shoplifter"...the name stuck), and is as eclectic and colorful in person as the exciting works she creates.

Regarding politics (but why bother?) read about our latest fiasco here, and some background details on the hopes Iceland, and observers out in the real world, had placed on a generally-elected Constitutional Assembly. Those hopes are dashed, and somehow it feels as though some certain fate is sealed.

Shoes

GUEST PHOTOGRAPHER: Leifur Þór Þorvaldsson*

Leifur writes: In a secret location on the in the middle of nowhere, these shoes have been lying for decades undisturbed. One can only imagine how it came about that they ended up there.

Leifur, who describes himself as an Icelandic theater maker, graduated with a BA in Theory and Practice from the theatre department of the Iceland Academy of the Arts in 2009. His graduation work, Endurrómun, was staged at Borgaleikhúsið, The Reykjavík City Theatre, last January and was then nominated for a Gríman, the Icelandic answer to the Tony Award. He is now working in the development stages of a new project currently set for production next year. This photo is a sweet example of his obvious visual talents.

During research on the Icelandic theater scene years ago, I discovered that it is amazingly robust for such a small nation. Though there are always grumblings (and rightly so) about reduced funding for the arts, and though the large national and city theaters have a serious corner on the market (here is a statement on that fact by the Association of Independent Theatres in Iceland) theater, as a direct progeny of the storytelling and rímur culture that kept the Icelandic national identity intact during the very difficult middle ages, is alive and strong.

For a bit of extra reading about Icelandic theater, here is a piece on Icelandic theater I wrote for the Reykjavík Grapevine in 2004 (which was, unfortunately, poorly edited and titled before it went to print. Sigh.)

*the letter 'Þ' in Leifur's middle and last names is pronounced 'Th,' so the English spelling of his name is Leifur Thor Thorvaldsson.