Having wintered in Antarctica, I know the call of the ice, and it still courses through my veins, but how do you explain this to someone else? How do you transfer that emotion? How can you ever truly get across the essence of just how special and precious the Antarctic is?What about Art? Has this not always been the way we express beauty and emotion?
Right now, as I type, there are two great art projects developing in Antarctica.
Lita Albuquerque's Stellar Axis blows my mind.. these people are crazy, but wonderful! Not only is the imagery stunning.. but I admire anyone who can get 51, yes fifty one, Antarcticans (I'm imagining scientists, cooks, mechanics, pilots...) to participate in performance art. Most bases don't even have fifty one people total. Check out their solstice activities!
On the other side of the continent, Chris Drury is exploring the natural, the 'microcosm and macrocosm' of Antarctica. A bulletin he wrote before leaving says:
"It struck me recently that Antarctica is the place where wind is born. Then someone drew my attention to the fact that in the Navajo tradition, wind is the force of the creator and the whorls on our fingertips are the traces of creation as drawn by the wind."
He ends by saying that his time in Antarctica will inform the next 5-10 years of his work.
The joyful, exciting, present and immediate.... the thought-provoking, life-changing, and inspiring. Antarctica has all of these facets, and it is wonderful to see them captured through Art.
Stellar Axis photo by Simon Balm
Skua photo by Chris Drury