For Ragnar Kjartansson, the story of a work is more important than its physical form. “I still don’t understand the art object,” says the multitalented Iceland native. As if to prove it, he has taken over the entire exhibition space of Thyssen Bornemisza Art Contemporary in Vienna—where today’s film was shot by Pavel Raev—together with a brigade of 19 Icelandic performers, in order to recreate Halldór Laxness’ epic, World Light, a novel that decrypts the artistic DNA of his volcanic homeland. Using the space as an old-school movie set, this month-long performance results in daily-shot scenes, which, simultaneously played, produce a cacophony of melancholic music, sounds and images that depict the quest for beauty that Kjartansson shares with the main character of the novel. Also currently showing at New York’s New Museum, he is known for his indefatigable creative practice, constantly swinging between performance, video, painting and music. In 2009, he became the youngest artist ever to represent Iceland at the Venice Biennale with “The End,” a work that saw him paint the portrait of a single male model, day after day, during the entire six months of the show, with packs of cigarettes, empty bottles and painted canvases accumulating around him. Kjartansson exudes a kind of rock star magnetism: a founding member of the electro-indie band Trabant, he persuaded The National to play their song “Sorrow” for six hours for his piece “A Lot of Sorrow” at New York’s PS1 last year.—Igor Ramírez García-Peralta

Igor Ramírez García-Peralta contributes to Harper’s Bazaar en Español, Gatopardo (Mexico), Artribune (Italy) and Parterre de Rois (Italy/UK).