A Lot of Sorrow

<p>Icelandic artist and musician Ragnar Kjartansson’s often intensely durational performance-based works manifest a rare synthesis of pathos and humor. <em>A Lot of Sorrow</em> is both a music video and an extended concert film, in which Brooklyn-based band The National performs its three-and-a-half minute ballad <em>Sorrow</em> on repeat, for six hours. The band’s music and lyrics frequently conjure notions of romantic suffering and melancholy—themes common to Kjartansson’s own emotive, theatrical work.<br>As the hours pass and fatigue sets in, the musicians subtly alter their song; the original track is always recognizable but is also treated as elastic and expressive rather than rigid. Kjartansson sometimes appears in the role of a roadie, offering water and food to the performers throughout the concert. Multiple camera angles grant the viewer access to both the perspective of the musicians and that of the audience, as the band and the crowd feed off each other’s energy with every repetition.</p>

Catalogue

Year
2013

Artist

Ragnar Kjartansson
Ragnar Kjartansson

Painting

Ragnar Kjartansson is an Icelandic contemporary artist who engages multiple artistic mediums, creating video installations, performances, drawings, and paintings that draw upon myriad historical and cultural references. An underlying pathos and irony connect his works, with each deeply influenced by the comedy and tragedy of classical theater. The artist blurs the distinctions between mediums, approaching his painting practice as performance, likening his films to paintings, and his performances to sculpture. Throughout, Ragnar conveys an interest in beauty and its banality, and he uses durational, repetitive performance as a form of exploration.

Reykjavík, Iceland

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Theaterstück/Theaterpiece, 2014 (for Parkett no. 94)

Theaterstück/Theaterpiece, 2014 (for Parkett no. 94)

2014 · Multiple of paint on plywood

WW-2014-M112262
The Visitors

The Visitors

2012 · Nine-channel video (color, sound)

WW-2012-M105962
The Visitors

The Visitors

2012 · Nine-channel video projection, color, sound, 64 min.

WW-2012-102094