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SHARON STAMMERS
BUILT WITH LIGHT
NO. 19: LIBRARY OF WATER
ALL ARCHITECTURE HAS A DIALOGUE WITH LIGHT. SOME BUILDINGS EXCEL IN THEIR USE
AND EXPLOITATION OF LIGHT AND OTHERS ARE CONSTRUCTED PURELY IN HOMAGE TO THE
MEDIUM OF LIGHT. SHARON STAMMERS CONTINUES HER WORLD TOUR EXPLORING THE BEST
ARCHITECTURE THAT IS BUILT WITH LIGHT. THIS ISSUE, XAVIER FULBRIGHT OF ME ENGINEERS
PICKS AN ICELANDIC INSTALLATION
Although from New York, Horn has been alone. Each column is filled with around
traveling to Iceland for30 years “to get 50 gallons of water melted and collected
at the very center of the world” and has from the glaciers of Iceland; Vatnajökull,
found that the country has become both Hofsjökull, Drangajökull, Snæfellsjökull.
her studio and her material. The loca- Some of these glaciers are melting so
tion of the Library of Water is in Styk- fast that they will cease to exist before a
kishólmur. This is a small town of one decade passes and the water displayed
thousand inhabitants situated on the is both old and pure having frozen many
west coast of Iceland and approximately hundreds of years previously. Artificial
three hours from Reykjavík. When visiting illumination is provided by spotlights
in the early 1990’s, Horn was drawn to recessed into the ceiling above each col-
a building standing at the end of a cliff umn and natural light effects refract and
(just like Xavier!). At the time, the build- reflect throughout the space.
A few years ago, I went to the village of
ing functioned as the local library and The second piece, though not about
Stykkishólmur in Iceland, my mother’s
had been built in the 1950s. The feature light or water specifically, is about the
hometown. Whenever I visit, I always
that attracted her interest was the huge two combined; the weather. The floor is
wander around town and inevitably
windows that overlooked the harbour scattered with words snipped out of its
walk up the hill to the prominent loca-
and the arctic sea beyond and years later rubber surface. Words in English and
tion of the library. From the library, there
in 2004, Horn opened the installation Icelandic evocative of emotion; ill, cruel,
is an excellent view of the harbour and
entitled Vatnasafn/Library of Water in the slæmt, bad, stillt, tranquil, svalur, cool,
vast expanse of the ocean. The library
building. The work was commissioned by hressandi, bracing, lygnt, still, glettið,
is a peculiar looking structure built atop
Artangel and was developed in response frisky, vitlaust, crazy, napur, piercing cold,
a bluff that resembles a fishing boat.
to the unique sense of place offered by blautt, wet.
On this visit, I was surprised to discover
the building offering both a sculptural
that it no longer contained books, but
installation and a community centre for “I go north. It’s in my nature. But it turns
instead had a number of columns each
the town. out that the vast majority of people go
filled with water. These water columns
The building has been altered in a num- south... The desire to go north is an at-
are placed mostly by the windows,
ber of ways to make a calm and serene traction to solitude, open space, subtle
refracting the light penetrating into the
gallery space with the original windows expressions of light and time... Sometimes
building. Each column has a different
lengthened almost to the floor. The space going north is about whiteness. Sometimes
translucency; some crystal clear, oth-
acts as gallery to view both the installa- it’s about darkness. I’m attracted to the
ers a cloudy mixture. The installation
tion of water inside and the view of the darkness, it relieves me of the incessant
continuously changes with the altering
water outside. Both are affected by the call to visual attention – it opens interior
daylight and Iceland’s infamous ever
weather which constantly changes. Horn spaces that offer untold possibilities of
changing weather. I was mesmerised by
describes this space as a “lighthouse in discovery. This darkness is really another
the water playing with the view outside
which the viewer becomes the light. A form of light.”
and realised the installation quite simply
lighthouse in which the view becomes the Roni Horn
acknowledged the two most important
light.”
aspects to people in the north, the
The building houses two installations on a This is a timely selection for the Back Page
weather and light. The connection with
long-term basis: the bilingual rubber floor with the Roni Horn exhibition currently on
the natural environment is undeniable
‘You are the Weather’ (Iceland) and the at the Tate, London and is a choice that
and as I would later understand, each
sculpture ’Water, Selected‘. entwines the location, the building, the
column contains water samples from
The water piece consists of 24 identical installation within it and also the artist.
each of Iceland’s glaciers; therefore
floor-to-ceiling clear glass columns ap- When I first read about the Library of
becoming a living memorial.
proximately 1ft in diameter by 10ft high Water several years ago, it struck me as a
Xavier Fulbright
located throughout the main room. Some work of genius. I am waiting for a Library
Lighting Designer - ME Engineers
are clustered together and some stand of Light....
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