I took part, together with my Master’s class in Art Direction & New Narratives, in the creation of issue 01 of MADNN Magazine. The magazine explores the land of Iceland through the concept of ‘control,’ with each team focusing on a specific in-depth perspective. My team and I conducted a cross-disciplinary study on how folkloric traditions continue to exert influence over Iceland’s population today.

date: 2023
where: Barcelona, Spain
people: MADNN CLASS, Carolina Germani,Katie Phillips

Iceland is a land of contrasts - a place where fire meets ice, where glaciers and volcanoes coexist, and where nature reigns supreme. A land of myth and magic, where the wild and moss covered landscape seems to breathe with the stories of old. For centuries, Icelanders have struggled to control the harsh natural environment in which they live. Here, the folklore runs deep, interwoven with the fabric of daily life, and rooted in the rich cultural heritage of the Icelandic people. From the hidden folk who dwell in the rocks, to the fierce trolls and creatures that haunt the mountains and fjords, the folklore of Iceland is a treasure trove of tales and legends, passed down through generations. It is a world where the boundaries between reality and myth are blurred, where the natural and supernatural mingle and merge, and where the mysteries of life and death are woven into the very fabric of the land. . Nature, humans and storytelling have been intertwined in an intricate dance since the dawn of our kind. Humans have always yearned to control the unpredictability of the natural world, giving rise to countless tales of gods and goddesses, monsters and heroes, that attempt to unravel the mysteries of the natural world. These stories and traditions help us navigate the complexities of life, bringing a sense of balance and order that offers comfort and stability when we face the darkness of the unknown.
Whether it takes the form of myths, fairy tales, or folklore, human narrative encapsulates the fundamental essence of our existence--a culmination of our collective experiences, memories, and the aspirations, hopes, and fears of our ancestors that came before us. We tell these stories to make sense of the world around us, to connect with one another, and to transmit our wisdom from one generation to the next. And yet, as we breathe life into them, they take on a power of their own. They become the lenses through which we view ourselves and the world, the scripts we follow, and the guiding maps for our beliefs and behaviors. They reveal the depths of our souls and the breadth of our humanity. In the end, we are both the creators and the created, the authors and the characters, the narrators and the audience.   And yet, there is a paradox at the heart of this storytelling tradition, for the stories have a way of turning the tables on us. The paradox of these stories is that the very act of creating them is a form of control in itself. In this way, the stories that we create end up controlling us, even though we created them only to have a sense of control ourselves. But it is this paradox that makes our stories so beautiful, so profound, so endlessly fascinating. For they are not just tales, but mirrors that reflect our deepest truths.This intricate and paradoxical dance between the natural world, humanity, and the art of storytelling is woven with complexity. It arises from our innate need to understand and thus control the inexplicable natural forces that shape our world. Yet, in our pursuit of control, we damage and destroy, and overlook the fundamental truth that most facets of nature remain too powerful to be controlled by us after all. Still, we continue to dance, to spin our tales, and to seek meaning in a world that is as magical as it is mysterious, hoping one day we can finally understand it all.














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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...Analog shot in Iceland