Photograph, text work, 2012.
Paper, sms texting, radio advertising.
The final part of the Identity series was featured in the art magazine Endemi in 2012. The works were also presented in an exhibition curated by the magazine’s editors, in the building of the Reykjavík Sculpture Association. As in previous works in the series, the work consists of a self-portrait, accompanied by a text. This time the text was short and cryptic: Yellow is the new black.
A part of the work was having the text read in the national radio, every day at noon for three weeks. Another part of the work was sending a text message to approximately 800 people in Iceland, whom the artist knew very little or nothing at all. Many responded to the text message and read it in their context, bringing their meaning to the text. Some were surprised, others smiled, and yet others thought the message was racist.
The work revolves around the methods we use to communicate and plays with the similarities between art and media. The seaming lack of content or a meaning in the text is troubling to viewers, suggesting that the work truly revolves around itself by sending a void message, which the viewer must interpret within their context. In a sense the artwork is the media – is the message (or lack thereof).