Verified source report
‘It’s beautiful and sad to be a human being’: Ragnar Kjartansson brings ‘the best artwork of the 21st century’ to Australia
A nine-screen installation with a cult following is one of many highlights in the Icelandic artist’s first major Australian show, at Melbourne’s NGV In a video recorded by Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson, he stands side by side with his mother, Guðrún Ásmundsdóttir, in front of a bookshelf, as if posing for a photo. Ásmundsdóttir was 65 at the time and appears with a halo of greying curls, wearing a red cardigan. She looks up at her smartly dressed son, then repeatedly, noisily, spits into his face. “I wanted to make a brutal work,” says Kjartansson of the video, which he made in 2000 while at art school in Reykjavík. He almost succeeded. For most of it, Kjartansson mutely accepts the abuse from his stony-faced mother. Occasionally, though, the pair dissolve into laughter. Every five years, Kjartansson and Ásmundsdóttir have restaged the piece. As the videos progress, you witness bot
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A nine-screen installation with a cult following is one of many highlights in the Icelandic artist’s first major Australian show, at Melbourne’s NGV In a video recorded by Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson, he stands side by side with his mother, Guðrún Ásmundsdóttir, in front of a bookshelf, as if posing for a photo. Ásmundsdóttir was 65 at the time and appears with a halo of greying curls, wearing a red cardigan. She looks up at her smartly dressed son, then repeatedly, noisily, spits into his face. “I wanted to make a brutal work,” says Kjartansson of the video, which he made in 2000 while at art school in Reykjavík. He almost succeeded. For most of it, Kjartansson mutely accepts the abuse from his stony-faced mother. Occasionally, though, the pair dissolve into laughter. Every five years, Kjartansson and Ásmundsdóttir have restaged the piece. As the videos progress, you witness bot
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What happened
According to The Guardian’s source item, ‘It’s beautiful and sad to be a human being’: Ragnar Kjartansson brings ‘the best artwork of the 21st century’ to Australia, A nine-screen installation with a cult following is one of many highlights in the Icelandic artist’s first major Australian show, at Melbourne’s NGV In a video recorded by Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson, he stands side by side with his mother, Guðrún Ásmundsdóttir, in front of a bookshelf, as if posing for a photo. Ásmundsdóttir was 65 at the time and appears with a halo of greying curls, wearing a red cardigan. She looks up at her smartly dressed son, then repeatedly, noisily, spits into his face. “I wanted to make a brutal work,” says Kjartansson of the video, which he made in 2000 while at art school in Reykjavík. He almost succeeded. For most of it, Kjartansson mutely accepts the abuse from his stony-faced mother. Occasionally, though, the pair dissolve into laughter. Every five years, Kjartansson and Ásmundsdóttir have restaged the piece. As the videos progress, you witness bot
Context
The development sits in VINI’s Culture file for readers following arts, entertainment, fashion, film, music, celebrity, and the business of culture. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The source item is dated 2026-06-25T01:13:56+00:00.
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Primary source: ‘It’s beautiful and sad to be a human being’: Ragnar Kjartansson brings ‘the best artwork of the 21st century’ to Australia via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.
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- ‘It’s beautiful and sad to be a human being’: Ragnar Kjartansson brings ‘the best artwork of the 21st century’ to AustraliaThe Guardian - 2026-06-25T01:13:56+00:00
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