Fish Factory

One month residency in Iceland

In August 2022, I participated in a one month residency at the Fish Factory in Stöðvarfjörður, Iceland. I was very impressed by the location and the history of the building. It seemed to have had a very strong influence on the demographic and economic life of the village. I collected a sample of objects stored on site and started organizing formal interactions between them. In parallel, I photographed the way certain objects had been arranged in the landfill behind the harbour in Seyðisfjörður, a neighboring Fjörd. In their own industrial aesthetics, they follow a certain composition archetype –a object on a pedestal–, making them sculptures .

As stacking can go two-dimensionally I experimented with monotypes, using the fish conveyor belts as printing plates. By adding different layers, one obtains a richness of patterns that is reminiscent of fish scales. I liked to consider the similarity of movement between a fish conveyor belt and a printing press, and in a way, activating the conveyors in a movement that was already ”known to them”. I played around with the narrative that I too was processing fish. The manual press and the printing process itself was very labor-intensive and repetitive, which brought me at least metaphorically a little closer to the original working life at the fish factory.

residency fish factoy iceland

Found sculptures, 2022, Seyðisfjörður harbour
Various assemblages, 2022, objects found on site, variable dimensions
Piled objects, 2022, objects found on site, variable dimensions
residency fish factoy iceland
Photocopied inventory, 2022, objects found on site
residency fish factoy iceland
Woman working at the factory, processing fish, ca. 1980
residency fish factoy iceland
Fish Skins, 2022, Installation, 170 x 180 x 40 cm
residency fish factoy iceland
Fish skins, overview, 2022, scans