Vedurhorfur - 112 Words for Wind

In Iceland you can find over 130 words for wind. The artist, Sólrún Halldórsdóttir, has chosen 112 words out of those 130 to include in this environmental sculpture. By choosing 112 words she is referring to the ermergency number in Iceland, 112. 

Livelihood and survival of many Icelanders, especially of commercial fishermen, to this day depends on the weather, and hardly a day goes by without the weather forecast being addressed and discussed. The words are placed in escalating order, from the calmest to the strongest wind we have ever heard of. The artist uses the same color code as the Bureau of Meteorology, but shades have been added to represent each word. To decide the order of the words she interviewed elderly people around Iceland and asked about their feeling and understanding of each word. 

Sólrún Halldórsdóttir (1964) was born and raised in Grundarfjörður, the second youngest of eight siblings. Her parents are Halldór Finnsson (1924) and Pálína Gísladóttir (1929). Her mother owned a bookstore in Grundarfjörður and taught Sólrún, at an early age, the love for the language. 

The sculpture is 18 meters long and 60 centimeters wide, made of stone, steel and hardwood.