The Unknown Bureaucrat - Reykjavík, Iceland
N 64° 08.746 W 021° 56.413
27W E 454252 N 7113595
This memorial to the Unknown Bureaucrat is located outside the Iðnó Theatre in Reykjavík, Iceland.
Waymark Code: WMPCA9
Location: Iceland
Date Posted: 08/08/2015
Views: 17
The sculpture depicts a man from the elbows down in a loose-fitting, crumpled suit with his left hand in his left pants pocket and his right hand holding a briefcase down by his right side. From the elbows up, the man is encased in a large unfinished slab of stone. A plaque embedded in the stone at the man's feet reads:
Óþekkti Embættismaðurinn
The Unknown Bureaucrat
1993
Magnús Tómasson
Additional information is provided from three different websites identified below, but please note that the location of the statue has changed since each of the three items were posted to the internet. The statue is now located at the Iðnó Theatre.
"Several countries have monuments to the Unknown Soldier, but perhaps only Iceland has a sculpture honoring — and lightly satirizing — the thankless, anonymous job of the bureaucrat. The 1994 sculpture by Magnús Tómasson depicts a man in a suit holding a briefcase, with his head and shoulders subsumed in a slab of unsculpted stone."
--Source (
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"The Unknown Bureaucrat is a popular favourite, as it manages to be both humorous and provocative, while truthfully depicting something that most everyone can relate to, the trivial existence of the working bee. The block of rock is a perfect metaphor for how everyday life crushes down on us, while at the same time depicting the narrative of the faceless official who is only a cog in the wheel, and never a person to most of us."
--Source (
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A You-Tube video titled "Solid as a Rock: Thomasson's "Memorial to the Unknown Bureaucrat"" also provides some good information.
--You-Tube (
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