”Cabana – The Changing Room”

event: “Sens in Place” Videy Island, in frame of Reykjavik Arts Festival, Reykjavik, Iceland, 2006

The “Changing Room – Cabana“ was built close to the beach, halfway between the wharf and the old deserted fishing village on the Videy island in Reykjavik. My intention was to create a kind of terminal that would inter-cede between the island’s fishing past and its tourist present. A place that is private, but transitory, just enough for a moment of reflection. Videy, like virtually the whole Icelandic landscape, is devoid of trees, a natural protection from rain or wind in our part of Europe. The “Changing Room”, therefore, has become a place where to hide from the wind and rest for a moment.
Also, the “Changing Room” is my childhood memory of the summer holidays I spent with my parents on the Polish coast of the Baltic Sea. Changing rooms on beaches or close to them were frequently to be found at the time. Watching people enter the changing room and leave only dressed in swimsuits was interesting, surprising, and could last for hours. Being inside the changing room meant a temporary isolation, but with audible external sounds, bits of conversations, or the swoosh of the sea.
On Videy, the changing room does not have the same function due to the low temperatures and the dissimilar nature of the island. Nevertheless, it is a place where one can stop, isolate a little, listen, and be oneself. And the “Changing Room’s” half-open form allows one to select the fragment of the landscape to watch.