Perpetual Motion extends from Sigurður Guðjónsson’s practice of examining the fluxes of energy found in material things. In experimenting with lenses, light, and motion, he amplifies and observes specific forms and objects, and reveals the energies they hold. Highly magnified images of metal dust are projected onto a giant split screen that results in a poetic, multi-sensory experience and transforms the space sculpturally. Shifts and disruptions on a micro-scale, in a compelling and profound order, are made visible in the work.

Guðjónsson emphasizes aspects of this tangible event and the continuities that occur within it in one unbroken stream. What occurs during this stream seems to be suspended in time, and becomes reliant on the dynamics on screen and the accompanying granulated sound composition. The visual nuances of the imagery reflect and converse with the detail in the soundscape. The screen becomes a window into another space where we might discover a multi-layered micro world that, though eerily familiar, has never before been seen.

In Perpetual Motion Guðjónsson observes and captures the energies and frequencies of material substance in an ongoing and personal fascination with the hidden and untouched places that surround us. In creating ‘spaces of discovery, and in the processes in which he creates these spaces, Guðjónsson’s eye for the nuances of nature and an interest in transforming them into poetical immersive experiences is exposed.

Text by Mónica Bello, curator of the Icelandic Pavilion


‍Photos: Ugo Carmeni