Main Gallery
07.07.- 04.08.2007
I prefer to work in an undefined area. That is where the possibilities are, the doubt, the risk and the excitement. Curiosity leads you on, and doubt challenges you.
What usually happens is that the motive, usually an object, material or a living organism, comes into contact with some kind of spatial situation, like a room, or a picture format. This occurs by the way of a photograph or video, then a computer, and after that real space. My works can be called an ongoing research on the fusion of object and space, picture and frame, representation and elasticity.
The works often seem to take a form that relates to painting in one way or another. Not because I necessarily want them to, it just happens naturally. Even an 8 mm film I made in 1980 is basically a painting, although during my studies I did not paint. This might lead you to the conclusion that painting is a state of mind, or a method of observation, rather than a media.
Material versus pixels, or the possibility of working in a material way through an immaterial media is of course a con-tradiction. This is one of the aspects of the installation Puddles on show now at Skaftfell. It is a video, sound and photo installation, but at the same time it has very physical qualities.
Puddles is related to a photo installation I made while I was studying in 1979. It consisted of two black and white photographs installed on opposite walls. One showed a drop of milk coming out of a bottle. The other showed the drop landing in a puddle of milk. The camera, and thereby the viewer was situated in between.
The sound is an important part of the work, and underlines its spatial qualities. It also activates the viewer, who automatically attempts to connect sound and picture.
Tumi Magnússon has participated in a number of exhibitions through out the world.
1957 Born in Reykjavík
1976-78 The Icelandic College of Art and Crafts
1978-80 AKI Enschede, Holland
1980-81 Universidad de Granada, Spain