Steidlville

Sited in a converted library building on a promontory overlooking the ocean in the town of Stykkishólmur on the west coast of Iceland, VATNASAFN / LIBRARY OF WATER incorporates many of Roni Horn’s abiding artistic concerns with water and weather, reflection and illumination, and the fluid nature of identity.

Twenty-four glass columns containing water from glaciers around Iceland refract and reflect the day into a rubber floor embedded with words used to describe weather, inside or out. VATNASAFN / LIBRARY OF WATER also offers a space for community gatherings, a studio for writers, and it houses an oral archive of weather reports gathered from people who live in and around Stykkishólmur.

This book surveys the interconnecting elements of Roni Horn’s long-term project on the island through a series of image sequences and texts. It also includes a selection of writings by the artist inspired by her experience of being in Iceland.