“Mannvirki” means structure, building. But also the junction of the words for “person” and “fortress”. In this film, we travel through an abandoned structure in northern Iceland, which due to its proximity to the coast is being eroded by time, wind, and sea. The lack of activity is an invitation to the entry of fauna, flora and curious humans with plans for the future.
In the middle of the Icelandic inhospitable landscapes there is an abandoned building. A reinforced concrete behemoth, which served as an exploratory and observation base for the tundra. Nowadays, the monolithic monumentality of that building is beginning to be invaded by natural elements: animals, vegetation, infiltrations. To these are added some human characters who, in silence and meticulousness, investigate the debris, move the lost objects, dig, scrape, dive. The silence is torn by certain more violent onslaughts, the picturesque landscape is disturbed by gestures, and the concrete itself gives way under the outside forces. And behold, suddenly that forlorn place becomes a performative stage, while human and non-human figures occupy and resignify it. Everyone works – as if in a ballet – for the decomposition and absorption of that structure. It is the dance of degradation. (Ricardo Vieira Lisboa)
