Arngrímur Borgþórsson
Fy Fan Vad Billigt
16th June – 13th August
Fy Fan Va Billigt! is a documentation/performance project that has been ongoing since 2019, the title of which is inspired by the Facebook group with the same name (Fy fan va billigt: Malmö). The work consists of large-format prints of photographed objects. The objects in the images are the cheapest objects available at various kiosks and corner stores around Malmö which are obtained by entering the store and asking for the single cheapest object for sale in the entire store. These objects vary from candy, envelopes, single rolling papers and chewing gum, to name a few and are documented by the artist, with the subsequent photograph then being printed on the cheapest available paper at the cheapest print-shop in Malmö.
The project came about after there had been much discussion in Swedish politics about Malmö’s so called “underground economy” and how cheap products were a threat to societal order in Sweden. Malmö, and in particular the neighbourhood of Möllevången was often mentioned in these discussions. Borgþórsson began wondering what this potentially meant, and how it could be possible for these objects to represent such a threat. The objects in question seem innocuous enough and are undoubtedly what one would expect to receive when asking for the cheapest product in the store.
Arngrímur Borgþórsson graduated with a BFA from the Iceland Academy of the Arts and an MFA from the Umeå Academy of Fine Arts. Working with various media, his work frequently focuses on the complex systems of interactions between humans and technology, and the questions and issues that arise from these interactions. He often works by developing a method or a system and then following it without compromise to its, often absurd, conclusion.
Arngrímur has exhibited at various exhibition spaces, galleries and festivals in both Iceland and Sweden, as well as institutions such as, Peri centre for photography in Turku, Finland, The National Museum of Iceland, Bildmuseet in Umeå and Malmö Konsthall in Malmö, Sweden. He lives and works in Malmö.
The exhibition is part of Copenhagen Photo Festival 2023