Life opera performance (90:00) and an installation (recycled textile, wood, fountain pumps, solar panels, plastic, metal and costumes from the opera).
Skjóta is a full lenght opera that debuted on June 7th in Iceland within an solo exhibition by Sigrún Gyða. It is a chamber opera that now seeks co-production outside of Iceland. The opera is in English and is performed by singers Vera Hjördís Matsdóttir, Kristín Sveinsdóttir/Sterre Decru and Sigrún Gyða Sveinsdóttir with local string players and electronic musician Baldur Hjörleifsson.
Skjóta tells the story of a football player that decides to dedicate her life to climate action and the following interplay between various power dynamics around her. The opera explores the intersection of football culture and climate change, highlighting how unity within football can foster solidarity as well as asking questions about climate guilt and anxiety. Skjóta reflects on the jeopardy of stepping out of ‘halftime’ to take action rather than remaining passive, whether an individual can truly have a say in the rapid progression and politics of climate change. The work is the same length as a football game,
WITH
The player: Vera Hjördís Matsdóttir
The owner: Kristín Sveinsdóttir/Sterre Decru
The manager/violin: Sigrún Gyða Sveinsdóttir
Reykjavík Team
Electronic music/guitar: Baldur Hjörleifsson
Violin: Gunnhildur Daðadóttir & Helga R. Óskarsdóttir
Viola: Anna Elísabet Sigurðardóttir
Violin Cello: Júlía Mogensen
Double bass: Snorri Skúlason
Concept , direction and libretto: Sigrún Gyða Sveinsdóttir
Co-Direction: Snæfríður Sól Gunnarsdóttir
Music: Sigrún Gyða Sveinsdóttir
Co-music production: Baldur Hjörleifsson
Costumes: Mirjam v. Mengershausen
Installation: Sigrún Gyða Sveinsdóttir
Director’s Assistant: Katrín Lóa Hafsteinsdóttir
Libretto translation: Hrund Ólafsdóttir og Árni Hjartarson
Set buildup: Alexander Hugo Gunnarsson
Textile manufacturer: Knitwear lab
Knitwear programmer: Guðjón Andri Þorvarðarson
Advice on football culture: Hildur Björg Kristjánsdóttir, Omar Martina
Advice on climate change and football: Brynjar Freyr Eggertsson
Advice on Theater Production Sustainability: Goos van den Berg
Marketing: Heiðdís Birta Jónsdóttir Thompson
Promotional photographs and videos: Alda Valentína Rós, Hörður Sveinsson & Ásmundarsalur
Production: TTS
Co-Production: Ásmundarsalur
With the kind support of:
Sviðslistasjóður (Iceland Performance Arts Fund),
Mondriaan Funds,
Creative Industries Funds NL
With the help of:
Ásmundarsalur, Listasafn Reykjavíkur, KR, Barnakórinn við Tjörnina, Blast Theory, Hybrida, Jennifer Amann, Knitwear Lab, Sveinn Harðarson, Ása Hlín Svavarsdóttir, Gunnar Bjarki, Ástrós Steingrímsdóttir, Ásthildur Hanna Ólafsdóttir and more.
MEDIA:
Heimildin
RÚV
RÚV/Víðsjá
MBL
SÍM
Visit Reykjavík
Reykjavík Grapevine events
Silja Aðalsteinsdóttir/Forlagið review (Icelandic)
https://youtu.be/eZl4Tfqaj9A?si=MHkYdx9tNvRBLKvV
Line Drawn at Ísafjörður Art Museum w. Elísabet Anna Kristjánsdóttir, Svavar Guðnason and Karl Kvaran.
Currated by Rannveig Jónsdóttir.
With the installation Pareidolia's Dream, Sigrún studies the colors and shapes in Svavar Guðnason's artwork. The shapes in Svavar's drawing travel with Sigrún to a psychology session she attended as a child following a benign brain tumor the size of a tomato and the hallucinations after doses of morphine. Pareidolia becomes a symbol for the sun and describes her fears of escalating temperatures, impending obscurity, micro plastics and her parents' arguments in front of the television.
Lay my chin in your palmTufted pillowed canvas - acrylic yarn and wool
420x592 mm (2023)
Exhibiton overview
The Therapy SessionTufted wall carpet on a wooden framed canvas - Acrylic yarn and wool
500x720mm (2023)
Unrealistic feelingTufted wall carpet on a wooden framed canvas, made from Wool, Hand Dyed with lupin.
760x840mm (2023)
Pareidolia’s DreamSound Sculpture: Hard candy, sound, metal/plastic stools, tufted seats, platform, amplifier and three pairs of headphones.
08:00 minutes (2023)
The Therapy SessionTufted wall carpet on a wooden framed canvas - Acrylic yarn and wool
500x720mm (2023)
The Sun In the EarHand knitted wool, wooden planks, white wall paint.
1680x1680 mm (2023)
Exhibiton overview
Unrealistic feelingTufted wall carpet on a wooden framed canvas, made from Wool, Hand Dyed with lupin.
760x840mm (2023)
The Sun In the EarHand knitted wool, wooden planks, white wall paint.
1680x1680 mm (2023)
along with an ‘Untitled drawing’ from Svavar Guðnason from 1935 from the museums collection.
Video (12:00)
at Vitamin D, Group Exhibition at Reykjavík Art Museum, Reykajvík, IS.
This work is part of the opera Skjóta. Based on research on climate issues and football, the work considers how halftime can be a metaphor for life itself. The first half represents birth, and the second half represents death. In halftime, the most significant decisions are made, especially if one is sitting in the best seats and has real power to change the course of the game. With this work, Sigrún aims to explore the basic emotions that the game ignites and raise important questions about climate shame and climate anxiety.
During the opera’s production, Sigrún spent time in residencies in Brighton (UK) and Värmland (SE), where she explored football culture, climate issues, and their connections. In creating MID, she collaborated with children from the local Reykjavík Football Club KR and the local children’s choir by the pond. Additionally, opera singer Vera Hjördís Matsdóttir performs in the work. The filming took place in heavy cold rain and stormy weather in the midst of winter during the first days of the new year.
Concept, composition, production, direction: Sigrún Gyða Sveinsdóttir
Cinematography and co-production: Alda Valentína Rós
Sound: Baldur Hjörleifsson
2 DP: Gunnar Bjarki Birnuson
Player
Vera Hjördís Matsdóttir
Manager
Sigrún Gyða Sveinsdóttir
| Team Aldís Jóhannesdóttir Amelia Luna Monaco | |
| Anna Eldon Brynjarsdóttir | |
| Embla Margrét Hallbjörnsdóttir | |
| Finna Birna Steinsdóttir | |
| Heiða Nielsen | |
| Hekla Þórisdóttir | |
| Hrafnhildur Anna Stefansdóttir | |
| Ingibjörg Lilja Ægisdóttir | |
| Irena Mar Ottósdóttir | |
| Ísalind Salka Óskarsdóttir | |
| Katrín Huld Elínardóttir | |
| Margrét Sólveig Hinriksdóttir | |
| Melkorka Margrét Skúladóttir | |
| Oktavía Gunnarsdóttir | |
| Rakel Harðardóttir | |
| Saga Eir Weston | |
| Sara Margrét Bjarnadóttir | |
| Sara María Michaelsdóttir G. Olsen | |
| Snjólaug Anna Sindradóttir | |
| Svala Þórdís Andradóttir | |
| Sól Þorkelsdóttir Sivertsen | |
| Sólrún Jensdóttir Blöndal | |
| Singing in final chapter | |
| Lára Ruth Clausen | |
Opera performance (25:00) and an installation (video, metal, glass, tufted capets, running harnesses and running shoes).
HLAUPA talks about renewal, birth and death. Beginning and end. The self and social media staging. To look into the fire and have it swallow you, like melting glass or liquidy lava. To be a troll that becomes a stone on purpose and stops running. Five modern trolls tell the story of a stone that used to be alive and how they have to cope with the feeling of being observed.
w. Helena Kesskÿla, Moa Holgersson, Vera Hjördís Matsdóttir and Ciara O’Kelly
Ears: Nell Schwan
Graphics: Studio Buy my talent
Photos by Tom Janssen
HLAUPA was made into a film in 2022 and shown at the abandoned Fishing Factory at Hjalteyri in the North of Iceland. In the film version, Margrét Daðadóttir and Hildur Elísa Jónsdóttir, accompany Vera Hjördís Matsdóttir and Sigrún Sveinsdóttir as the troll sisters. Video excerpt from the film: https://vimeo.com/794274528
Sound Sculptures: Soundworks played online, concrete, plastic, metal and blues harmonicas.
Series of three works spread over the large outdoor exhibition area of Laugardalur at the group exhibition Teygja (Hjólið 2021).
The works merge music and art, nature and man-made systems. Each sculpture is actually a character who lives in digital clouds and sings an aria to their surroundings. In fact, the ode is more about their inner longing and desire, which underscores man's unilateral relationship with his environment. The three sculptures each represent a man-made system that characterizes their location: Nature in the Botanical Garden, exercise and fitness outside of World Class, and transport on sea at Skarfaklett. With the work, Sigrún Gyða examines how human intervention is necessary for us in order to have a natural experience.
Composition and lyrics by Sigrún Gyða Sveinsdóttir (apart from lyrics in 64.141764, -21.870164)
Lyrics in 64.141764, -21.870164 are by Árni Hjartarson
Sound Production and mastering by Jethro Cook
Voice by Sigrún Gyða Sveinsdóttir and Hildur Elísa Jónsdóttir.
Technical assistance by Sveinn Harðarsson, Sigurbjörn Ingvarsson, Vincent Mensink and Arnór Bogason
Currated by Sunna Ástþórsdóttir
String players in opening performance:
Móeiður Una Ingimarsdóttir violin,
Anna Soffía Hauksdóttir violin,
Hafrún Birna Björnsdóttir viola,
& Jón Pétur Snæland violin cello
Supported by Iceland Visual Art Found, the Reykjavík Sculptor Association and the City of Reykjavík.
Thanks to World Class Iceland, Faxaflóahafnir and Grasagarðurinn.
Photos by Hörður Sveinsson
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
64.155750, -21.866930 (Concrete and plastic)
Located in Skarfagarðar, close to Skarfaklettur and the Viðey Ferry Terminal.
64.155750, -21.866930 (Concrete and plastic)Located in Skarfagarðar, close to Skarfaklettur and the Viðey Ferry Terminal.
64.155750, -21.866930 (Concrete and plastic)Skarfagarðar, close to Skarfaklettur and the Viðey Ferry Terminal.
64.141764, -21.870164 (Plastic and metal)The Botanical Garden of Reykjavík.
64.141764, -21.870164 (Plastic and metal)
The Botanical Garden of Reykjavík.
64.141764, -21.870164 (Plastic and metal)
The Botanical Garden of Reykjavík.
64.145165 -21.881097 (Concrete, plastic and blues harmonicas)
World Class Gym Center, Laugar.
64.145165 -21.881097 (Concrete, plastic and blues harmonicas)
World Class Gym Center, Laugar.
64.145165 -21.881097 (Concrete, plastic and blues harmonicas)
World Class Gym Center, Laugar.
64.145165 -21.881097 (Concrete, plastic and blues harmonicas)
World Class Gym Center, Laugar.