The day Liang Hao tried to fish stones
by Barbara Signer
Between Seyðisfjörður and Mývatn there is a place of striking nothingness. Grey landscape changing constantly by the shadows of the clouds moving over it.
We drove there in our family car, a red Seat Alhambra,. Which I had borrowed from my parents.Ruth , Sara, Hao and me. I was in a bad mood that day. So I took a pillow, a blanket and and a book and tried to disappear on the back back seat, while Ruth and Sara were having fun listening to to LSD by ASAP Rocky in the front. Hao was quiet.
When we arrived the wind blew fiercely. It was the only sound.Taking a closer look at the grey surface I discovered how beautiful it was. Lichen and stones in different shades of grey, tiny plants resisting the uncozy conditions. All testimonies of their own causality. Blending in over Millions of years, being part of a landscape formed by volcano eruptions and the harsh climatic circumstances.
First, Hao wanted us to film him walking away from the camera, over a knowe; up – and disappearing behind it. It was raining and Ruth tried to capture what Hao had in mind. It was important to find the perfect angle. Once he was too far away then too close.
Relieved that Ruth was taking care of the filming, I walked up a pyramid of grey gravel. Standing on top of the mountain I waved at Hao and Ruth, impressed by how high I was above them.
The next shot was capturing Hao walking into the landscape with a fishing rod and a bucket.He stopped at a certain point and started fishing into nothingness. Calm.
Hao's look reminded me of an elegant Chinese intellectual from the 70's. But he wasn't successful fishing.. Nothing being the only thing he was catching. Maybe he was trying to fish stones. Or was it something invisible that he was trying to catch?
Somebody later told me that Icelandic people believed that one shouldn't throw stones into nature, because they could kill an invisible being.
The battery died before we had finished filming. We decided to continue to Mývatn to take abath in the hot spring lagoon while charging the batteries.On the way there we stopped at Hverarönd, a high temperature area. Strolling along hissingsteam vents and bubbling mud pools I spotted a Y-shaped path which was leading up a hill next to the area. When I had coffee with Berglind the day before, she told me that in Iceland at crossroads sometimes a fairy is said to appear. She asks you about your wish. But don'ttell her. Keep it for yourself. Otherwise the wish will never be fulfilled.
At Mývatn the sun was shining. We covered our faces with dark mud, which gave us a slightlydisturbing look. A bit Apocalypse Now. After the bath we ate rybread with salmon. Hao ate a soup.
When we stopped again to film on the way back, the batteries were still empty. They didn't charge.Tired and slightly disappointed, but also a bit relieved maybe, we headed back to Seyðisfjörður.Like a miracle a huge rainbow appeared just in front of us. We drove hrough the rainbow gate and continued our way home.
We drove there in our family car, a red Seat Alhambra,. Which I had borrowed from my parents.Ruth , Sara, Hao and me. I was in a bad mood that day. So I took a pillow, a blanket and and a book and tried to disappear on the back back seat, while Ruth and Sara were having fun listening to to LSD by ASAP Rocky in the front. Hao was quiet.
When we arrived the wind blew fiercely. It was the only sound.Taking a closer look at the grey surface I discovered how beautiful it was. Lichen and stones in different shades of grey, tiny plants resisting the uncozy conditions. All testimonies of their own causality. Blending in over Millions of years, being part of a landscape formed by volcano eruptions and the harsh climatic circumstances.
First, Hao wanted us to film him walking away from the camera, over a knowe; up – and disappearing behind it. It was raining and Ruth tried to capture what Hao had in mind. It was important to find the perfect angle. Once he was too far away then too close.
Relieved that Ruth was taking care of the filming, I walked up a pyramid of grey gravel. Standing on top of the mountain I waved at Hao and Ruth, impressed by how high I was above them.
The next shot was capturing Hao walking into the landscape with a fishing rod and a bucket.He stopped at a certain point and started fishing into nothingness. Calm.
Hao's look reminded me of an elegant Chinese intellectual from the 70's. But he wasn't successful fishing.. Nothing being the only thing he was catching. Maybe he was trying to fish stones. Or was it something invisible that he was trying to catch?
Somebody later told me that Icelandic people believed that one shouldn't throw stones into nature, because they could kill an invisible being.
The battery died before we had finished filming. We decided to continue to Mývatn to take abath in the hot spring lagoon while charging the batteries.On the way there we stopped at Hverarönd, a high temperature area. Strolling along hissingsteam vents and bubbling mud pools I spotted a Y-shaped path which was leading up a hill next to the area. When I had coffee with Berglind the day before, she told me that in Iceland at crossroads sometimes a fairy is said to appear. She asks you about your wish. But don'ttell her. Keep it for yourself. Otherwise the wish will never be fulfilled.
At Mývatn the sun was shining. We covered our faces with dark mud, which gave us a slightlydisturbing look. A bit Apocalypse Now. After the bath we ate rybread with salmon. Hao ate a soup.
When we stopped again to film on the way back, the batteries were still empty. They didn't charge.Tired and slightly disappointed, but also a bit relieved maybe, we headed back to Seyðisfjörður.Like a miracle a huge rainbow appeared just in front of us. We drove hrough the rainbow gate and continued our way home.