Saturday, January 20, 2007

Wind vortex on the ice cap

Landscape artist Chris Drury is currently working in Antarctica and writing a blog (which looks rather like this one... except that he has lots of nice photos!) However, as he says: "I expected to be out in the landscape most of the time. But in truth Antarctica is a dangerous and unpredictable place and I am here as part of a large organisation who have to ensure everyone’s safety... So for these first 3 weeks the experience has been primarily a social one." Furthermore, "the land itself and the experience of it is absolute. It is so stunningly beautiful, that in the face of it art has no place. As a result I am increasingly reluctant to do anything much in it, apart from make marks with my feet or a skidoo in the snow. I have no wish to use other resources to make a futile impression on what is absolute. I will be content to record on film and photograph what is here and to let the experience of place; land, weather, people and science, become embedd[ed] deep within me." However, in his most recent post he does say he has plans to "make a drawing of a wind vortex" on the ice cap, so we can look forward to some new land art as a result of the trip.

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