{"id":13341,"date":"2025-01-17T14:29:16","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T14:29:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/old.hafnarborg.is\/?post_type=event&#038;p=13341"},"modified":"2025-01-17T14:29:16","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T14:29:16","slug":"opening-still-lifespan","status":"publish","type":"event","link":"https:\/\/old.hafnarborg.is\/en\/event\/opening-still-lifespan\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening \u2013 Still Lifespan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Saturday January 25th at 3 p.m.<\/strong>, we invite you to the opening of <strong>Helgi Vignir Bragason<\/strong>\u2019s exhibition <em>Still Lifespan<\/em>, offering a visual exploration of buildings and construction materials. Through a multi-layered analysis of the life cycle of structures, Helgi critically examines various aspects of the construction industry, including material use, waste and environmental impact. The exhibition features still-life images based on construction waste or symbols of prosperity found on building sites, alongside photographs of concrete fragments and sketches of buildings that were demolished prematurely. The exhibition, curated by Ald\u00eds Arnard\u00f3ttir, is part of the programme of The Icelandic Photo Festival 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Today, bustling construction sites symbolise prosperity, much like 16th-century Dutch still-life paintings once represented wealth and abundance. Popular wisdom even has it that the number of construction cranes can be seen as a measure of a country&#8217;s economic strength \u2013 the more cranes dotting the skyline, the better the economy. These imported cranes can thus be viewed as prized artifacts from distant lands. By the same token, almost nothing that can be found on construction sites in Iceland is locally sourced \u2013 not the cement, the formwork, the electrical wires, or the supports.<\/p>\n<p>This only underscores the effects of prosperity and globalisation, extending far beyond the construction industry in Iceland. The artist\u2019s work then highlights how such swift developments often lack a clear vision for the future, neglecting efficient use of resources and sustainability. For example, buildings that have stood for only half a human lifetime are sometimes torn down to make way for new structures, inviting reflection on the fleeting nature of modern development and the true yet hidden cost of prosperity.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Helgi Vignir Bragason<\/strong> (b. 1972) graduated with a diploma in Creative Photography from the School of Photography, Reykjav\u00edk, in 2023. He also holds a B.Sc. degree in Constructing Architecture from Vitus Bering CVU in Horsens, Denmark (2003), and an M.Sc. in Construction Management from Reykjav\u00edk University (2013). Building on this, Helgi\u2019s practice typically deals with different aspects of man-made structures and the construction industry. The artist\u2019s recent exhibitions include BENEFIT \u2013 A Reflection on Materials at Sl\u00f6kkvist\u00f6\u00f0in, Reykjav\u00edk (2024), and Lj\u00f3sr\u00e1k at Gallery Kannski, Reykjav\u00edk (2024), showcasing his continued exploration of materiality and its cultural implications. Helgi Vignir is a member of The Icelandic Contemporary Photography Association and the Association of Icelandic Visual Artists.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Free entry \u2013 see you at Hafnarborg.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Saturday January 25th at 3 p.m., we invite you to the opening of Helgi Vignir Bragason\u2019s exhibition Still Lifespan, offering a visual exploration of buildings and construction materials. Through a multi-layered analysis of the life cycle of structures, Helgi critically examines various aspects of the construction industry, including material use, waste and environmental impact. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":13392,"menu_order":27,"template":"","format":"standard","class_list":["post-13341","event","type-event","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.hafnarborg.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event\/13341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.hafnarborg.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.hafnarborg.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/event"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.hafnarborg.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/old.hafnarborg.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event\/13341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13342,"href":"https:\/\/old.hafnarborg.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event\/13341\/revisions\/13342"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.hafnarborg.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.hafnarborg.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}