Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, installation view, Bologna CC.
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, excerpt (censored)
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, installation view, Bologna CC.
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, installation view, Bologna CC.
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, installation view, Bologna CC.
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, installation view, Bologna CC.
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, installation view, Bologna CC.
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, installation view, Bologna CC.
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, installation view, Bologna CC.
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, installation view, Bologna CC.
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, excerpt (censored)
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, installation view, Bologna CC.
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, installation view, Bologna CC.
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, installation view, Bologna CC.
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, 4K video still.
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, 4K video still.
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, 4K video still.
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, 4K video still.
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, excerpt (censored)
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, 4K video still.
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, 4K video still.
Saemundur Thor, ‘Police Infestation’, 2025, poster.
Police Infestation
Bologna CC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2025
14/11/2025 - 06/12/2025
Control and speculation, scaling and control. Police Infestation exerts, at different levels, the mechanisms of narrativization, centering the simplifying and directorial impulse of play. Within his installation at bologna.cc, Saemundur Thor spatially applies the spectrum of amplification from figurine towards life-size, while presenting a testimony of an incident, illustrated by toys.
In 1973, the OAPEC oil embargo led to a nearly 300% increase in global oil prices. The shortage of oil, the primary ingredient in plastic, opened a window of opportunity for the newly developed German toy brand Playmobil. Designed to be small enough to fit in a child’s hand, the collection of figurines and devices required very little plastic, and thus very little petroleum for manufacturing. Today, Playmobil is LEGO’s closest competitor. Playmobil's product lines are characterized by realism and accuracy, often featuring exact models and objects from existing industrial sectors, such as agriculture and policing.
20 years later, the entire potato market of southern Iceland briefly fell into the hands of a single farmer. An unprecedented potato blight, a fungal disease, ruined the majority of the harvests. But our farmer managed to overcome the infestation while also keeping his methods a secret. Having taken advantage of the agricultural catastrophe, his monopoly lasted for several years, gaining unwanted attention from neighbouring, failing farmers, and, increasingly, the local police.
Police Infestation is an immersive Playmobil* reenactment of a dramatic police raid that the potato farmer was subjected to during harvest in 2005. Upon entering the exhibition, viewers find both floors of the two-story space completely covered in shiny, artificial grass. Beneath the plastic grass, rows of identical, perfectly rounded bumps protrude from the floor, mimicking the miniature potato field used in the reenactment. Playmobil props used in the scene have been enlarged into life-size sculptures that occupy the floor. By showing the miniature scene on a large screen, reaching through the two floors, as well as displaying Playmobil accessories from the video in human size, visitors may experience themselves as miniature figures in a Playmobil house.
*This exhibition is not owned, operated, sponsored or authorized by geobra Brandstätter GmbH & Co. KG. geobra Brandstätter GmbH & Co. KG does not endorse, and is not responsible for, this exhibition or any information contained herein; makes no express or implied warranties with regard to any information in this exhibition; and is not bound by any statements made in this exhibition, or by those who operate this exhibition. The trademarks PLAYMOBIL®, PLAYMOBIL® 1.2.3, PLAYMOBIL® RC TRAIN and PLAYMOBIL® FUNPARK and the copyrighted images of PLAYMOBIL® products are the sole and exclusive property of geobra Brandstätter GmbH & Co.
Supported by:
Amarte Fonds
Amsterdamse Fonds voor de Kunst
Mondriaan Fonds
Myndlistarsjóður
Myndstef
Bologna CC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2025
14/11/2025 - 06/12/2025
Control and speculation, scaling and control. Police Infestation exerts, at different levels, the mechanisms of narrativization, centering the simplifying and directorial impulse of play. Within his installation at bologna.cc, Saemundur Thor spatially applies the spectrum of amplification from figurine towards life-size, while presenting a testimony of an incident, illustrated by toys.
In 1973, the OAPEC oil embargo led to a nearly 300% increase in global oil prices. The shortage of oil, the primary ingredient in plastic, opened a window of opportunity for the newly developed German toy brand Playmobil. Designed to be small enough to fit in a child’s hand, the collection of figurines and devices required very little plastic, and thus very little petroleum for manufacturing. Today, Playmobil is LEGO’s closest competitor. Playmobil's product lines are characterized by realism and accuracy, often featuring exact models and objects from existing industrial sectors, such as agriculture and policing.
20 years later, the entire potato market of southern Iceland briefly fell into the hands of a single farmer. An unprecedented potato blight, a fungal disease, ruined the majority of the harvests. But our farmer managed to overcome the infestation while also keeping his methods a secret. Having taken advantage of the agricultural catastrophe, his monopoly lasted for several years, gaining unwanted attention from neighbouring, failing farmers, and, increasingly, the local police.
Police Infestation is an immersive Playmobil* reenactment of a dramatic police raid that the potato farmer was subjected to during harvest in 2005. Upon entering the exhibition, viewers find both floors of the two-story space completely covered in shiny, artificial grass. Beneath the plastic grass, rows of identical, perfectly rounded bumps protrude from the floor, mimicking the miniature potato field used in the reenactment. Playmobil props used in the scene have been enlarged into life-size sculptures that occupy the floor. By showing the miniature scene on a large screen, reaching through the two floors, as well as displaying Playmobil accessories from the video in human size, visitors may experience themselves as miniature figures in a Playmobil house.
*This exhibition is not owned, operated, sponsored or authorized by geobra Brandstätter GmbH & Co. KG. geobra Brandstätter GmbH & Co. KG does not endorse, and is not responsible for, this exhibition or any information contained herein; makes no express or implied warranties with regard to any information in this exhibition; and is not bound by any statements made in this exhibition, or by those who operate this exhibition. The trademarks PLAYMOBIL®, PLAYMOBIL® 1.2.3, PLAYMOBIL® RC TRAIN and PLAYMOBIL® FUNPARK and the copyrighted images of PLAYMOBIL® products are the sole and exclusive property of geobra Brandstätter GmbH & Co.
Supported by:
Amarte Fonds
Amsterdamse Fonds voor de Kunst
Mondriaan Fonds
Myndlistarsjóður
Myndstef