Áfangar

Serra, Richard

• Year : 1990
• Height : 300 cm
• Width : 50 cm
• Category : Skúlptúr
• Sub-category : Steinskúlptúr

Location: Viðey Standing Stones is an environmental artwork which stretches across the whole of the western island and is prominent in the environment. The artwork was installed at the initiative of Reykjavík Arts Festival in 1990, but the city of Reykjavík commissioned the work. It is made from columnar basalt, thus referencing the island’s geological history and simultaneously underlining its unbreakable connection to its surroundings. It comprises eighteen basalt columns are placed in pairs around the circumference of the western part of the island. For example, one column stands at the nine meter contour line and the other on the ten meter contour line, the upper one is three meter high, the lower one is four meter high, so they look equal in height, at 13 meters above sea level. The gap between them is decided by the gradient of the land. All of the columnar basalt pairs are visible from the highest point of the island, which is at 18 meters above sea level. The work has many characteristics of minimalist art: A repetition of the same form, symmetry without axis, mathematical rules and a direct influence on the closest surroundings. The artist donated his fee for the creation of this artwork to an Icelandic fund in his name which gives out grants every third year.

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