Turning Art Museum Into Movie Set

A group of Icelandic artists, lead by Ragnar Kjartansson, have turned TBA Contemporary Art Museum in Vienna into a movie set, reports RÚV.

The troupe, which consists of artists, musicians, actors, artistic directors, costume designers and camera crew are living in the museum as they set about filming a cinematic and theatrical adaptation of World Light (Heimsljós), by the Icelandic author and Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness.

“[Museum visitors] come into the museum’s rooms and walk around people painting sets, sewing costumes, doing make up and then filming is happening in another room so we’ve turned the the art museum into a movie set,” said Ragnar.

The scenes that have already been filmed are screened in a separate hall and throughout the month scenes will be added on as they are finished.

“The work is more than anything about the process. We are creating a workshop about the longing for beauty,” said Ragnar. “The work is really just about us trying to create this movie. We don’t know if it will ever see the light of day.”

If you are in Vienna and would like to check the performance piece out, The Palace of the Summerland, as it is called, is running until April 27.