‘It’s beautiful and sad to be a human being’: Ragnar Kjartansson brings ‘the best artwork of the 21st century’ to Australia

A nine-screen installation with a cult following is one of many highlights in the Icelandic artist’s first major Australian show, at Melbourne’s NGV In a video recorded by Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson, he stands side by side with his mother, Guðrún Ásmundsdóttir, in front of a bookshelf, as if posing for a photo. Ásmundsdóttir was 65 at the time and appears with a halo of greying curls, wearing a red cardigan. She looks up at her smartly dressed son, then repeatedly, noisily, spits int...

By Oliver Giles