Published February 26, 2021
When the flicker of light appeared at the end of the pandemic tunnel, we sat down with the next generation of Icelandic artists to discuss the future. Conversations were free – some focused on the coming years, others reflected the understanding of the last few months, others still looked with wide eyes at the future of the forum, which has only grown within the confines of the coronavirus.
To present, an artistic vision, as the future holds. Today we talk to Print & Friends.
Note: The print version of this article lacked a photographic credit for the images of the Print & Friends artwork as well as their studio. They were taken by photographer Owen Fiene. We sincerely apologize for the mistake.
Print & friends
The name Print & Friends is appropriate, explain Sigurður Atli Sigurðsson and Leifur Ýmir Eyjólfsson, because if the couple is about something, it is printmaking and collaboration.
In fact, both of them are so interested in printmaking that talking to them feels like having a lively discussion at university – for them, printmaking is much more than a means of production or even a medium in itself, it is a subject that ethics can evoke endless discourse.
“Print & Friends is a common thing about printmaking, but it’s like an open playground,” explains Leifur when asked to swear it down to its core. “From the beginning, it has focused on collaborative aspects of printmaking, more than just production. It’s the talks and the community. “
The couple has tried to move certain boundaries of the practice and approach printing in a “nonchalant way”. Within the printmaking community, both explain, there are disputes between those who cling to preserving old methods and those who push it forward. “But you need both,” admits Sigurður Atli. “Some people preserve the existing knowledge and others find new ways to create it. In between is a collaboration between the two that creates something interesting. “
Take your time
Although the pandemic made collaboration personally difficult, it gave artists time to breathe, Leifur explains. In both of their views, the structure until the year 2020 became increasingly stringent for many artists’ plans, possibly putting them in scenarios with a speed boiler as they were not in a position to do their best work. COVID-19 granted a forced break.
“It is very good to take time,” explains Leifur. “It benefits artists to have more time to develop their ideas and deepen their working methods. People take more time and produce more quality work. It’s not this rush because everything has slowed down, so I see it as a plus. “
Virtual world
That being said, Sigurður Atli sees the disadvantages of this pandemic in experiences such as, well, this interview with Grapevine, which is filmed through Zoom. “On a larger scale, you take meetings like this,” says Sigurður Atli. “We can make our words known, but something is missing. And when you are teaching, something is missing from the students and the students find it too. You can not give a lecture online like you would in a classroom. The physical link is missing. “
But Sigurður Atli thinks that this loss of connection will grow in greater gratitude for it – and human communication in general – when restrictions are reduced.
“In a situation like this, it is the feeling of society [that’s lost]. “People come together just to see performance,” he continues. “For example, I went to a dance show yesterday and it was amazing to be there.”
For art, the lack of personal communication will hopefully cause mass sensitivity to art in general. For Sigurður Atli, it has already done so.
“This summer I went to a show and I was just completely overwhelmed. I saw the work and was outside myself, completely amazed, “he smiles. “And my friend who was working there said, ‘Siggi, this is just art. “But I was not used to seeing a show in space, in real life,” he concludes. “Hopefully this will lead to people going to an art museum and really looking at the work.”
Check out Print & Friends on their website.