Water, Selected 2007

Roni Horn, born in 1955, made this artwork, titled "Water, Selected", of an annotated map of Iceland. Horn has been visiting and documenting Iceland since the mid-1970s, drawn to its unique landscape and geology. Horn's interest in Iceland is deeply tied to ideas of identity, place, and the self. As she once said, "Iceland is not a place, it's a condition." Her work here develops alternative narratives to traditional representations of landscape. The map pinpoints various bodies of water, highlighting water as a crucial element of the Icelandic environment and an essential metaphor for fluidity and change. Water, in Horn’s vision, is a symbol of the ever-shifting nature of identity. The work reflects societal concerns about environmental issues, but it also emphasizes the intensely personal and emotional dimensions of Horn’s connection to Iceland.