Theresa Himmer: Platelet Art in Urban Icelandic Spaces

Ever since Tokyo Designers Week a week ago we’ve been aware that Icelanders produce the loveliest stuff, be it fancy knitwear or the most practical stamp calendars. (So please, will the financial crisis be kinder to them!) Now, once again, we went far north to picturesque Reykjavik during the annual Sequences Festival that has been turning the whole town into a public art space. At this fairly new Real-Time Art Festival, Danish artist and architect Theresa Himmer revealed the latest of her glistening murals consisting of hundreds of hundreds of mirrored platelets that reflect brightly in the sun. What a sight! PingMag had a chat with Theresa who, by chance, came to 100% Design Tokyo.

Written by Beatrice Fankhauser

Situated neatly on the façade of Kling&Bang Gallery, at Hverfisgata Street 42, thousands and thousands of shimmering platelets are merrily dancing with the wind. The Volcano installation is the latest addition to Theresa’s Mountain Series that includes the Waterfall at Bankastraeti 6 from 2006, and the Glacier at Klapparstigur 28, that was completed just this June.

Theresa, Volcano is the third part of a trilogy of your Reykjavik works, what’s this sequence of installations about?

These three installations constitute the Mountain Series as a loving tribute to Iceland, but also a general attempt to challenge our perception of urban space and the notion of man-made versus nature. If viewed with an open mind, the installations can transform the houses of downtown Reykjavik into geometric mountains and the whole city into a magical man-made landscape!

What a nice concept! When did you start the series?

Hundreds of mirroring plates form the “Volcano’s” lava.

The first piece, Waterfall, was done from my own initiative as part of the first Sequences Festival in 2006. The second piece, Glacier, was part of a group exhibition, curated and initiated by Alexander Zaklynsky, who is running the Lost Horse Gallery in Reykjavik. The project was born as a reaction to the city’s grey-out strategy against graffiti and street art, but also as a homage to the legendary Sirkus bar which used to be located in an old shed on the lot. [Watch a clip of the festival’s opening.]

Volcano, the latest addition to the series, was commissioned by Sequences Festival 2008 and was revealed last month. Even though it’s set in Iceland, the Mountain Series is dealing with the global and very basic relationship between human and environment. Therefore, the next step is to hopefully be able to adapt the concept to other locations around the world — with the Reykjavik trilogy as model.

So, the Volcano installation is based on — a volcano, obviously…

It’s based on an iconographic idea of thick lava, flowing down a rocky mountainside, taking into account the proportions of the gable, the light conditions and the context in general. The Glacier was done with a similar approach. [See top image and below.]

Looks beautiful! Where did you first get the idea for it?

The initial spark came from the material itself, how it was always changing and mirroring the surroundings. I was so fascinated by a small sample I had gotten in connection with another project!

The little mirroring platelets!

The mirror plates are sequins, the same kind that you would use for clothes. The Mountain, the Glacier and the Volcano are constructed of thousands and thousand of these, each pinned very lightly like a butterfly on a board. They come in a standard modular system that is often used in hyper commercial contexts, like for the signs marking used car dealers or musical theatres.

I am fascinated by the clash that occurs when the sequin modules are taken out of this usual context, and used for representing elements of nature with — at least traditionally — very different connotations. And how this glittering material is balancing on the threshold between being really tacky and strangely poetic at the same time.

Because the sequins are mobile, they always wave and glitter and thereby reflect every environmental change in light and weather. They are obviously a highly artificial material, but this constant flux gives them an almost supernatural glow at times.

The “Waterfall” in all its colourful beauty…

… consisting of platelets. Photos by Gunnar Thor Nilssen

And the whole surface looks amazing! How did you piece them all together?

I start each by doing quite precise patterns, pretty much like patterns for embroidery. After that it is plain production, which includes the many hours it takes to put each single sequin on by hand. Luckily I have always gotten a lot of help, for which I am endlessly grateful.

By the way, you are actually an architect, right?

I was educated at the department of experimental building and landscape design at Aarhus School of Architecture in Denmark until 2003. During my studies, I worked as a trainee at Michael Sorkin Studio in New York.
After graduating I worked for two years at CEBRA in Denmark, then at Studio Granda in Reykjavik until I started working independently this May. And apart from the Mountain Series, I am working on two duplex houses.

I see. Your art has been made especially for Sequences. Tell us a bit about that, please!

Sequences is a relatively new experimental art festival. This was the third year, with a focus on time-based art in public urban space. Also, its schedule overlaps with another important annual event, the Iceland Airwaves music festival. That week in October, Reykjavik is glowing! Everywhere you turn in the city, something extraordinary is happening — concerts and performances in any imaginable form mixed with numerous interventions and installations. This is one of my favourite times of the year. If anyone is planning a visit, mid-October would definitely be a good bet!

Thanks for the tip, we definitely have to go! Reykjavik seems to be a pretty artistic place, is that true?

Reykjavik first and foremost has a fantastic energy level and drive! This reflects not only in the art scene, but in almost any creative field, be it product design, music or graphic design. Between these layers, endless interactions and collaborations take place. It is an incredibly inspiring and liberating environment to be part of!

Lastly, what’s your favourite urban artist in Reykjavik?

There are many great street-art pieces in the city. I especially like street artist Sara Riel’s “Flugdreki” (‘kite.’) It always makes me smile while walking down an otherwise quite ordinary street.

Thanks a lot, Theresa! And hope to see you next year at 100% Tokyo again!

7 Comments

1. The volcano looks so beautiful, i love the use of the mirror sequins. Something quite unexpected in an urban surrounding.

   Posted by: vickib on November 13th, 2008 at 10:19 pm

2. amazing ideas.. just makes me wonder when i’ll have public art open

   Posted by: roku on November 14th, 2008 at 11:09 am

3. Great! Love her work :)

   Posted by: Ragnheidur on November 14th, 2008 at 9:15 pm

4. i love things like this. slice of life, pie in the sky, happiness is ordinary places. the world needs more gems like this.

   Posted by: nicool on November 15th, 2008 at 2:59 am

5. [...] Platelet Art in Urban Icelandic Spaces (link) [...]

   Posted by: Picdit » Blog Archive » Canned Mario - Mixed Bag of Pictures on November 29th, 2008 at 6:30 am

6. [...] An Interview with Theresa Himmer onwww.icelanddesign.is An Interview with Theresa Himmer on pingmag.jp/ Another two photos of her Art-Pieces on [...]

   Posted by: Glitter instead of water | urbanart iceland on September 13th, 2009 at 8:43 am

7. [...] spaces. Public spaces as art canvas has been explored in many countries both officially as in Iceland and un-officially from the Graffiti Research Lab and their L.A.S.E.R. or OpenFrameworks: Possibly [...]

   Posted by: Beyond the screen: Parallax views. « Media-con: convergence, conversations, contraptions and more. on October 25th, 2009 at 12:35 pm

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