An outdoor artwork in the East Iceland town of Djúpivogur will be relocated following a fatal accident. A tourist in his 60s died after being run over by a construction vehicle at the site of the much-visited art installation by Sigurður Guðmundsson. Sigurður and Björn Ingimarsson, mayor of Múlaþing municipality, decided at a meeting last week that the artwork would be relocated to another seaside location within the town.
The harbour area of Djúpivogur, where the man was run over, is the site of ongoing construction. A rope had been installed to separate pedestrians from vehicular traffic, but it had been removed at the time of the accident due to construction activities. “It is, however, not certain that this fixture would have prevented the accident that occurred, as those who visit the site are not all using the walking path that is marked and so it is our consensus that the removal of the artwork from the area is necessary,” a notice from the municipality states.
“We mourn the tragic accident that happened by the artwork and want to do everything in our power to prevent something like this from happening again,” the notice underlines.
The artwork consists of 34 oversized birds’ eggs of polished stone. When it was originally installed, in 2009, there was little traffic in the harbour of Djúpivogur. The site has since become a hub of industrial activity, which is set to increase in the near future.
