SVALBARD: ARCTIC DIALOGUES
Arctic Dialogues involved a field period in February 2009 in Spitzbergen in the Svalbard Archipelago (78° 13’ N) before the Polar sunrise, with a small group of Atmospheric Scientists. The work in this album draws on our shared activities, both out in the field and in the laboratory.
The focus of the scientific work was to investigate the behaviour of chemical pollutants in the snowpack following their transport from afar. My focus was on how the location, and the specific methods and processes of the scientists could inform my creative outcomes.
One of the by-products of the scientists lab work was a collection of filter papers from the filtration of melted snow samples. Although waste to the scientists, these papers provided me with a specific and meaningful focus. This became particularly apparent after looking at them under magnification, whereby the deposited material took on a fascinating appearance. The surfaces resembled complex topographies, suggestive of valleys, river systems, peaks and troughs.
Drawing on these visual cues, there followed a series of experiments exploring the notions of deposition, surface and texture, using a variety of graphic media on different grounds and, almost exclusively, at a very small scale.
The choice of materials, ground, and scale make reference to the subject matter, location, and concept.
There is a small catalogue (22 pages) that goes along with this body of work ‘Arctic Dialogues: Conversations between Art and Science’, which can be purchased by emailing me. The price is £6.50 including p&p