by Roni Horn (Artist)
"Iceland is really the center of action for me," Roni Horn has said. "Since I grew up in New York people think I'm escaping from all its lunacy. Not at all. When I go to Iceland that's where I get nervous, where I think: 'Oh my God, this is intense.'" Horn's new book Herdubreid at Home is a collection of photographs of the Icelandic landscape. As with previous works by Horn, its focus is specific: the book concentrates on Iceland's beloved geologic mascot, the mountain Herdubreid, and on the related work of Stéfan V. Jónnsson, who painted the mountain throughout his life, and whose images have found their way into the homes of Icelanders across the country. Through this singular attention Herdubreid at Home conveys an intimacy that is particular to the book form. As Horn says, "a book is really a sensual...experience and I use these books to focus people in this very intimate one-on-one relationship."