9 photographs (dimen-sions variable),
HD video (13 min.)
Photographer: Bernhard Ingimundar-son
Videographer: Thorgeir Gudmunds-son

As part of Con­tact, Toronto's annual photog­raphy fes­tival, No.9 presents Dynasty (2007), by the Ice­landic Love Corporation in public space at Terminal 1 of Toronto Pear­son International Airport.

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 of 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.