Movies: Ragnar Kjartansson

Kjartansson appears bare-chested and buried waist-deep in a Reykjavik public park. Strumming a guitar, he plaintively sings the line—“Satan is real; he's working for me”—repeatedly for 64 minutes. As he does so, children frolic around him....

A celebration of creativity, community, and friendship, The Visitors (2012) documents a 64-minute durational performance Kjartansson staged with some of his closest friends at the romantically dilapidated Rokeby Farm in upstate New York. Each of the ...

Single-channel video, 4' 54"...

In this seven-channel video installation, two pairs of identical twin musicians circle each other, playing the same endless song....

No plot found...

The video Mercy (2005) presents an alt-country ode consisting of a single lyric — "Oh why do I keep on hurting you" — which Kjartansson, standing alone with a guitar, sings over and over in front of the camera like an actor perfecting his role. Now p...

Icelandic artist and musician Ragnar Kjartansson’s often intensely durational performance-based works manifest a rare synthesis of pathos and humor. A Lot of Sorrow is both a music video and an extended concert film, in which Brooklyn-based band the ...

Ragnar Kjartansson meets with American blues musician Pinetop Perkins in a field near Pinetop's home in Austin, Texas. Ragnar films Pinetop in the sunset, as he plays a piano and reminisces about his life and career....

No Tomorrow is a new video installation by Kjartansson, choreographer Margrét Bjarnadóttir, and composer Bryce Dessner. Spanning six screens that encircle the room, the installation surrounds viewers with a performance of spatial music written for ei...