Rakel McMahon (IS):
RM arbejder i sin kunst med performance, tegning og maleri. Hun tilstræber i sine værker at frembringe en særlig følsom atmosfære og tilstand. For at kunne formidle sine kunstneriske ideer skaber RM en mediator. I de fleste tilfælde er mediatoren en karakter, og det er karakterens opgave at tydeliggøre værkets pointer. RM dimitterede med en BA fra Islands kunstakademi i 2008.
Breadwinner:
Right smack in the centre of Reykjavík is this large pond. This particular pond has a special place in the hearts of the city´s residents. It´s extremely picturesque, surrounded as it is by quaint old houses and teeming in bird life. For decades it´s been a popular ritual for young and old to stroll down to the pond and feed the birds. On weekends, an endless stream of parents or grandparents with kids or young romantic couples jostle one another to feed the swans and ducks. However this blatant interference by man into the natural order of things is highly detrimental for these feathered creatures. These are various wild migrant birds that have come to Iceland for the purpose of breeding. So being fed bread all day long goes completely against the birds´ nature and affects their whole behaviour. My performance, BREADWINNER, explores the relationship that comes about between the giver and receiver, i.e. what kind of relationship emerges when someone possesses something others so desperately want. The bread can be seen as a metaphor for both money and power. The relationship between the human feeder and the birds is akin to that existing between authority and the class-divided masses in a capitalist, consumer-driven society; a loaf of bread benevolently thrown from the hand of the mighty and viciously fought over by rival species of birds. Rakel McMahon
Rakel McMahon
