From January 1-3, the billboards of Reykjavík were displaying art instead of ads. This was a part of an annual initiative called Auglýsingahlé (e. Commercial Break), a collaboration between Y Gallery, Reykjavík Art Museum and Billboard (a local billboard company). The project started five years ago, initiated by Y Gallery.
Through the electronic billboards, it has become easy to transform the whole city, using all 500 screens at once to take over public space with one work by an artist. At midnight on New Years Eve, the artwork simultaneously appears on over 550 digital screens and billboards. This means the selected artwork is highly visible, reaching an estimated 80% of the city’s population.
Applications are reviewed by a jury that includes representatives from the three organisers, as well as a representative from SÍM (the Association of Icelandic Visual Artists) and after the project’s completion, the piece is donated to the Reykjavík Art Museum’s collection. The work should be interesting over a period of time, the full three days, and it has to be evolving in some way, as well as suitable for the medium of course.
This year’s work was made by Þórdís Erla Zoëga and is called Sólarhringur (e. 24 Hours). Þórdís highlights how circadian rhythms are disrupted by the blue light emitted from our screens almost 24/7. The core idea is of urban screens shifting with natural daylight and the colours changing gradually over time. The circle at the center of the piece resembles the sun and the images were changing with the cycle of the day, making the billboards look like a sundial.
More details on this initiative can be found in an article on The Reykjavík Grapevine.
