“THE NEXT BAZAR IS ON SATURDAY AT 3 O’CLOCK”

Installation/performance at the ETERNAL LIFE exhibition, Akureyri Municipal Art Museum, Iceland, November 1996

The artist made an agreement with four women’s societies in Akureyri to incorporate their annual cake and giftware sale into the exhibition. The first bazaar was timed to coincide with the opening and one was scheduled every Saturday until the exhibition ended. He used the illuminated pillars of the gallery in the main exhibition space to frame the work, and posted an announcement on the wall about what could be expected. The women’s societies themselves handled newspaper and radio advertising as they saw fit.
Every Saturday at 3 o’clock the pedestals enclosed new works, generally home-made cakes but also handmade giftware and Christmas decorations.
In keeping with the modesty which characterizes the work of women’s societies, the prices were moderate and all the works were anonymous.

By 5 o’clock the spectators had bought most of what was on offer, both those who had come to see the exhibition and discovered the bazaar there, and those who had come only for the bazaar and hardly showed any interest in the other works at the exhibition.