Brynjar Sigurðarson & Veronika Sedlmair: The Beauty Of The Process

Brynjar Sigurðarson and Veronika Sedlmair—spouses and masterminds behind Studio Brynjar & Veronika—define the word undefinable. Their projects run the gamut from hyper-realistic fake stones to 3D moulds to sound installations and one-of-a-kind instruments. While the two are often called designers, that label seems utterly limiting when put in conjunction with their work. They are simply creators.

“In the glass scene, this would be considered a disaster, a terrible mistake. But we saw that there was beauty in it.”

For years, they’ve toiled away making bronze, glass, and everything in between out of their Marseille studio and recently were rewarded when Brynjar won the coveted Torsten & Wanja Söderbergs Prize. The two currently have an exhibit, ‘Reservation,’ at Hafnarborg, which began as part of DesignMarch.

Five unicorns

To understand the peculiarity and, for lack of a better term, extremity of Brynjar and Veronika’s works, you need but look at one of their emblematic creations—an instrument called the circle flute.

The idea came to the two spontaneously one day: a circular flute played by four people surrounding the listener. They instantly jumped headfirst into the project, but soon found it was much more complicated than originally anticipated.

“Flute-makers are a dying species. There are none in Germany and maybe four in France,” Veronika explains. From that pool, though, they had to find one that could manipulate the mechanisms of the flute into a circular shape and enlarge it without sacrificing the sound—not an easy task. That said, they eventually found a specialised maker in Paris. “This was where the design started. He invented these small ball joints. That was something new,” adds Brynjar.

From there, they had to find players, which proved to be just as difficult. In order to play the circular flute as Brynjar and Veronika desired, they’d have to find flutists who could do circular breathing—a technique flutists rarely use. “Circular breathing is difficult on the flute because you are blowing on the mouthpiece with varied force rather than into it,” Brynjar explains. “It’s really technical.” Technical, yes, and uncommon.

After a difficult search, they ended up connecting with four flutists from around Europe who were up for the challenge, and employed Icelandic composer Þráinn Hjálmarsson to create music for them. After an intensive retreat in the Westfjords with the group, the musicians were ready and the circular flute made its debut. “In the middle, it’s almost therapeutic,” Brynjar says. “It becomes a physical experience. You become a resonator. It’s quite beautiful.”

This is an excerpt of a feature published by The Reykjavík Grapevine. You can read the whole feature here.

The Reykjavík Grapevine is Iceland´s biggest and most widely read tourist publication. Get your latest on life, travel and entertainment in Iceland on grapevine.is.