An evocative chronicle of the power of solitude in the natural world
I'm often asked, but have no idea why I chose Iceland, why I first
started going, why I still go. In truth I believe Iceland chose
me.--from the introduction
Contemporary artist Roni Horn first visited Iceland in 1975 at the age
of nineteen, and since then, the island's treeless expanse has had an
enduring hold on Horn's creative work. Through a series of remarkable
and poetic reflections, vignettes, episodes, and illustrated essays,
Island Zombie distills the artist's lifelong experience of Iceland's
natural environment. Together, these pieces offer an unforgettable
exploration of the indefinable and inescapable force of remote,
elemental places, and provide a sustained look at how an island and its
atmosphere can take possession of the innermost self.
Island Zombie is a meditation on being present. It vividly conveys
Horn's experiences, from the deeply profound to the joyful and absurd.
Through powerful evocations of the changing weather and other natural
phenomena--the violence of the wind, the often aggressive birds, the
imposing influence of glaciers, and the ubiquitous presence of water in
all its variety--we come to understand the author's abiding need for
Iceland, a place uniquely essential to Horn's creative and spiritual
life. The dramatic surroundings provoke examinations of self-sufficiency
and isolation, and these ruminations summon a range of cultural
companions, including El Greco, Emily Dickinson, Judy Garland, Wallace
Stevens, Edgar Allan Poe, William Morris, and Rachel Carson. While
brilliantly portraying nature's sublime energy, Horn also confronts
issues of consumption, destruction, and loss, as the industrial and
man-made encroach on Icelandic wilderness.
Filled with musings on a secluded region that perpetually encourages a
sense of discovery, Island Zombie illuminates a wild and beautiful
Iceland that remains essential and new.
