Ragnar Kjartansson: I’m Not An Authentic Human Being

Ragnar Kjartansson (Reykjavík, 1976) is known for performances and large-scale video installations which explore the border between reality and fiction, melancholy and parody. Interviewed in his Reykjavík studio by the Louisiana Channel crew, the artist retraces his career, from his first videos Colonization (2003) and Mercy (2004), which deal with Iceland’s colonial history, and country music, respectively. In 2009, he was at the Venice Biennale, the youngest artist ever to represent his country. For six months, he lived on the ground floor of Palazzo Michiel Dal Brusa’, where Iceland’s pavilion was located, creating an oil painting a day. His 9-channel video installation The Visitors (2012), was shown at the HangarBicocca in 2013. The camera moves through his studio, framing his collection of vinyl records of varied genres, while the artist talks about the importance of music in his work and daily life, and plays extracts from his favorite pieces.