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Páll Haukur

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"we had a boat but we lost it"  - Photos by: Vigfús Birgisson.

"we had a boat but we lost it"  - Photos by: Vigfús Birgisson.

"we had a boat but we lost it"  - Photos by: Vigfús Birgisson.

"we had a boat but we lost it"  - Photos by: Vigfús Birgisson.

"we had a boat but we lost it"  - Photos by: Vigfús Birgisson.

"we had a boat but we lost it"  - Photos by: Vigfús Birgisson.

"we had a boat but we lost it"  - Photos by: Vigfús Birgisson.

"we had a boat but we lost it"  - Photos by: Vigfús Birgisson.

Lesa á íslensku

Páll Haukur explores a range of media in his work, drawing, sculpture, performance, always asking the question – what constitutes an object? Creating neon sculptures and abstract drawings, his works manipulate the space they encounter.  His work interacts with space and viewer in a complicated interaction; in flux, they are playful, confusing, thought provoking, divergent, foreign, they echo in the space. 

Páll Haukur enters the IMMUNE research with an investigation of supernatural understandings of environments. He explores these concepts in relation to the ‘digital sublime’,  wherein the technologies and their data we are immersed in present disorientating complex systems. Detached from reality, the work suggests that we live in the ‘GPS system’ of the map of Jean Baudrillard’s desert, guided by our chosen voices. In the exhibition, he presents a multi-media installation which includes video, photographic work, and an ice sculpture, which will melt, change shape and form puddles over the course of the exhibition. In considering this work Páll Haukur considers this quote from Soren Kierkegaard: 

“If one encounters a body of water, for example, one can examine the water first, and subject it to the scrutiny of science, or one can go down into the water and swim.”  – The Lily Of The Field, The Bird Of The Air, Soren Kierkegaard, 1849.

Páll Haukur’s focus on the supernatural in this work comes from a history of mythological narratives related to the writing and research for Travels in Iceland. Before the authors Eggert and Bjarni went on to their endeavour, they were required to study the scientific approach of enlightenment in Copenhagen for at least one year. There they learned the methodology thought suitable for gathering data in nature. The report was meant to debunk mythological narratives that sailors and local inhabitants voiced about supernatural occurrences. Travels in Iceland described supernatural elements in their report, while simultaneously denying their relevance or existence as these mythologies were overshadowing the homogenous scientific understandings of nature and agricultural reform that the reports in Travels in Iceland emphasizes.

With his art Páll Haukur (b. 1981) tries to break away from and interrogate any given notions of meaning by asking what constitutes an object. His works aim at complicating the relations that defines them, representing change or flux, either through its relationship to the body in space or through the material condition of the work itself – often using biological substances like honey or mycelium as parts of the sculptural practice. The result is an aesthetic experience that constantly asks the viewer to situate and re-situate herself in relation to object and space as Páll Haukur aims to compromise the semiological boundaries between a person and an object, between a thing and thing.

Páll Haukur studied at the Icelandic Academy of the Arts and the California Institute of the Arts where he graduated with a MFA in 2013. With a focus on drawing, sculpture and performance, his installations have been shown in Iceland, Europe and the US since 2008. He lives and works in Reykjavík.

Immune / Ónæm

Páll Haukur

Páll Haukur skoðar margvíslega miðla í verkum sínum, teikningu, skúlptúr, gjörninga og varpar ávallt fram spurningunni – hvað gerir hlut að hlut? Með neonskúlptúrum og abstrakt teikningum, hagræða verk hans því rými sem þau mæta. Verkin hafa gagnkvæm áhrif á rými og áhorfanda í flókinni víxlverkun; í flæði, eru glettin, ruglandi, vekja umhugsun, sundurleit, framandi, þau bergmála í rýminu. 

Í rannsóknarverkefninu ÓNÆM skoðar Páll Haukur yfirnáttúrulegan skilning á umhverfinu. Hann kannar þessi hugtök í samhengi við hið „háleita stafræna,“ með tilliti til þeirrar tækni sem við sökkvum ofan í, í áttavillubúnaði nútímans. Verkið gefur til kynna að við lifum innan GPS korts af eyðimörk Jean Baudrillard, aftengd raunveruleikanum, leidd áfram af rödd að eigin vali. Á sýningunni setur hann upp innsetningu margra miðla, þar á meðal eru vídjó, ljósmyndir og ísskúlptúr sem mun bráðna, umbreytast og mynda polla á meðan sýningunni stendur. Í hugleiðingum um verkin, veltir Páll Haukur fyrir sér eftirfarandi orðum Sørens Kierkegaard: 

„Ef maður skyldi, til dæmis, koma að vatni, getur maður rannsakað það gaumgæfilega til að byrja með og gert það að vísindalegu viðfangsefni, eða maður getur stungið sér til sunds.“ – The Lily Of The Field, The Bird Of The Air, Søren Kierkegaard, 1849.

Áhersla Páls Hauks á hið yfirnáttúrulega í verkunum á rætur að rekja í goðsagnakenndar frásagnir í tengslum við skrif og rannsóknir fyrir Ferðabók Eggerts og Bjarna. Áður en höfundar verksins hófust handa við skrifin, var sú krafa gerð til þeirra að þeir skyldu læra vísindalega nálgun upplýsingarinnar, í eitt ár hið minnsta, í Kaupmannahöfn. Þar lærðu þeir þá aðferðafræði sem þótti henta best til gagnasöfnunar úr náttúrunni. Skýrslu þeirra var ætlað að afsanna goðsögur sjómanna og heimamanna um yfirnáttúrulega atburði. Í bókinni gera þeir grein fyrir yfirnáttúrulegum efnum, á sama tíma og þeir afneita gildi þeirra og tilvist, þar sem goðsögurnar skyggðu á þann einsleita, vísindalega skilning á náttúrunni og umbætur á landbúnaði, sem skýrslurnar í Ferðabók Eggerts og Bjarna leggja áherslu á.