Icelandic Love Corporation

Dynasty consists of photographs and a film documenting a performance by the Icelandic Love Corporation. Set in the vast, barren landscape of the Icelandic Highlands, it shows three socialites (played by the artists) dressed in their best furs and jewels as they enjoy a rustic vacation. They fish, hunt, play the guitar by the fire and make the most of their excursion to the rare coldness of one of the world’s last remaining snow caps. 

It imagines a world where climate change has made cold weather a distant memory, a time when all the cold’s discomforts have been forgotten and there is only nostalgia for winter. These wealthy women have the privilege of escaping the sweltering heat and playing at wilderness self-sufficiency, but not before getting their long-missed furs out of storage and having their nails done. 

The ILC describe the characters they play as “completely corrupt. They are allowing themselves the luxury of enjoying the chilly weather but have nice fur coats to protect them from the cold. The piece is meant to show the final moments of this luxury”. The fact that there is nothing futuristic about the scene implies that such a world might not be too far off, although the exuberance and humour that characterizes much of the ILC’s work leaves room for the hope that we will change our course.