Last night I put up the installation that I had been working on while on board. The work Icebergs was based around a large kind of soft sculpture iceberg in a soft hand made Japanese paper that I have been dragging around in pieces on board and putting together gradually. The paper has small drawing and Inuitiit texts and body outlines made during landings around the Arctic Circle. I suspended the sculpture in the lecture theatre in front of the screen where it created an interesting shadow effect that came forward and moved and morphed with the images I projected onto it.
The images of ice I have taken include close-up details of walking on top of a glacier, and the chill of early morning zodiac-ing up close to the face of an iceberg (somewhat risky business as they may sit for years in a similar location, or out of the blue just do a full spin taking all with it!), and a tundra walk through ice wash and fossils. Just simple shots of the cracks in the sea ice as the Kapitan Khlebnikov crushes it’s way forward, and shots from the helicopters of the broad expanse of sea ice and pack ice as far as the eye can see.
I created a sound track for the work. Put it up and hoped for the best, as there is no chance of getting other solutions on an icebreaker! And nowhere to hide.
Just as I sticky taped the last corner of thread to the ceiling an announcement came that said we were stopping to zodiac bird colonies. All over red rover! This means whatever was scheduled to happen is off. My heart sank. This happens to us all. Just as one steps up to the podium with a well prepared talk or workshop all is called off. It is disappointing for us all. But we went ahead.
The people who came stayed. They loved it. The French cried ‘bravo’ and ‘magnific’ and the English clapped, the Australians asked questions and the South Africans kept saying ‘awesome man’. Today they are all asking for a repeat!
Some people watched the whole thing about 3 times! At 20 minutes a time for a video installation to keep watching for that long amazed me. People had lots of discussion about what I was doing, they reached into the work and pushed and pulled with ideas about global warming, sustainability, histories and the last of the frozen ice. There is a German art critic on board who will write a review! His first review in the Arctic as he said that all the art he had seen in the programs previously were impressionist style paintings, good work but nothing like this. So all is great this morning. Although I am slightly hung over from too much Russian vodka and drawing and photographing the midnight colours last night and this morning from the bridge.
Blanley Bay out side is calm and still, the images of the cliffs are etched perfectly across the surface in that mirror effect. A few stray bergs, as we are still in the high Arctic and this afternoon I hope to get up close and personal with another glacier.
Yesterday we flew over a wonderful glacier with colours of blue ice and the stains of rubbing up against the land.
Today is the last day. We have just spent the morning at Radstock Bay. Thule houses and whale bones. Great sea view, state of the art 1100 architecture in original condition, TLC needed. Secluded position.
Still now that I am going home the treck to Radstock House and Beechly Island seems too much. But one more camera full of images.
I lay on the rocks on the beach and lisiten to the bird crys in the cliff tops above me.
Tommorrow Resolute Bay. Throat singing and the long flight to Ottawa.
A few visits to the University Art School and the Museum. Home via LAX.
Thanks for lisitening/reading.
When I return and start up the project I will keep up with some updates – and will do a live interview on ABC with Richard Fidler in his Conversation Hour.
Bye from the Arctic Circle.
