Dieter Roth in My Life: Memories

Sigríður Björnsdóttir met 22-year-old Dieter Roth in Copenhagen in 1956. A year later, Roth joined her in Reykjavík, and in 1957 they married. Fifty years later, Björnsdóttir recounts their meeting, their life together with her daughter Adda and their children Karl (Kalli), Björn (Bjössi), and Vera, the ups and downs of their marriage, and their eventual separation and divorce. Beyond her own professional and artistic activities, and her roles as mother and wife, the author describes her collaborative and experimental work with Roth, their encounters with friends and artistic peers within the tightly-woven Icelandic creative community, and the beginnings of Roth's multifaceted practice. During this period Roth designed furniture and jewelry and pursued typographical work, experimenting with new printing techniques, and working on several artist books. In 1957, together with Icelandic poet Einar Bragi he founded the publishing house forlag ed. After their divorce in 1964, Roth kept studios in Mosfellsbaer and Seyðisfjörður, and collaborated with his children and grandchildren until his death in 1998.