After their impressive piece at Manifesta 7, the Spanish-Icelandic couple Libia Castro and Ólafur Ólafsson opened a solo show at the Reykjavík Art Museum. For “Everybody is doing what they can” the artists have shaped the exhibition space at Hafnarhus into a production and presentation site, including a recording and editing studio, where they conduct screen tests publicly throughout much of the exhibition’s duration. The screen tests, which involve individuals from different backgrounds and social positions, are conducted with the aim of creating an image of the site’s social and cultural context while, at the same time, reflecting on the nature and form of “a field portrait” and on what the artists refer to as “speaking models” and “actors in reality.” During the show these screen tests will also be “broadcast” back into the city’s diverse neighborhoods by means of a peripatetic video projection onto various city walls.

The approach that Libia and Ólafur bring to this work continues their longstanding engagement with social and cultural concerns, such as urban identity, globalization and cultural differences. (see LIST#18)