Ice, Nature, and Life-Cycles

* Experimental Art Project: Material or Process as a Metaphor Ice, Nature, and LifeCycles

VPA 302 Midterm Experimental Art Project Stephanie Williams Cal State University San Marcos

*Ice: Broadening Research Adrichem, J., Bryson, N., Fer, B., Gallaccio, A., Sanromán, L., & Wallis, C., (2013). Anaya Gallacio. Ridinghouse, London, UK. Topic – Installation Art – Temporary – Passage of Time The ordinary material I decided I want to explore within my experimental process is water and ice. I began to search for artists who have worked with ice within their creative process. One artist I was intrigued by was Anaya Gallaccio with her Intensities and Surfaces Ice project which she created in an empty warehouse, the Boiler Room of Wapping Pumping Station in London. Almost all of Gallaccio’s installations are temporary and go through a process of change over time. I love that she works with nature and the process of time.

Anaya Gallaccio: Intensities and Surfaces – 34 tons of ice, 1.5 ton boulder of rock salt

*Ice: Broadening Research

Anaya Gallaccio: Preserve ‘beauty’ – 800 gerbera flowers held between pane of glass and gallery window

*Ice: Broadening Research

Anaya Gallaccio: Preserve ‘beauty’ – 800 gerbera flowers held between pane of glass and gallery window

*Ice: Broadening Research Donop, A. (Producer), & Riedelsheimer, T. (Director) (2001). Rivers and tides: Andy Goldsworthy working with time [Documentary]. International: Mediopolis.

Topic – Temporary Nature Art – Passage of Time Artist Andy Goldsworthy works in different locations outdoors in nature creating temporary nature art with the things in nature that surround him. In the documentary Rivers and Tides, Goldsworthy takes us on a journey of his creative process with temporary nature works. I think Goldsworthy’s creations capture the true beauty of nature. I really like his use of leaves, rocks, sticks, water, and ice. In my opinion, we live in such a high tech world today that it can prove difficult to get out in nature for long periods of time and enjoy the beauty. Artists like Goldsworthy remind us of the beauty that is all around us.

*Ice: Broadening Research Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy I love this display of red leaves against the water. There are shimmers of shadows reflecting against the water.

I love leaves, and the colors of this display stand out boldly against the earthy dirt and rock ground.

The black hole seems like a never ending deepness going right down into the ground.

*Ice: Broadening Research Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy This is one of my favorite nature creations by Goldsworthy in his rivers and tides adventures. I love the way the ice is reflecting from the small bits of sunlight. It almost looks like the ice is lit up in some parts as it wraps around the tree.

*Ice: Broadening Research Steinhauer, J. (2015, July 30). A library of glacial water in Iceland.

Hyperallergic. Retrieved from http://hyperallergic.com/226116/a-library-of-glacial-water-in-iceland/ Topic – Glacial Water Art Installation On my last broadening assignment Professor Hersko gave me insight on an artist named Roni Horn and her Iceland Water Project. I researched Horn’s project, and I absolutely love what she has done with melting glacier water. In Vatnasafn Library, Horn has created a Library of Water. Horn installed ‘an archive of water collected from twenty-four unique glacial sources throughout Iceland.’ This is something I would love to see in my lifetime!

*Ice: Broadening Research

Roni Horn – Library of Glacial Water Iceland

*Ice: Broadening Research

Roni Horn – Library of Glacial Water Iceland

*Ice: Broadening Research History of Ice and Art Carey, M. (2007, July). The history of ice: how glaciers became an endangered species. Environmental History, 12(1), 497-527.

Topic: History of Ice – Global Warming In the article The History of Ice, author Mark Carey discusses the history of glacial studies and global warming. Currently glaciers exist on all continents except for Australia, and cover about ten percent of our planet. During the last ice-age glaciers covered around thirty-two percent of our planet. Glaciers can be unpredictable in nature and occasionally cause deadly floods and avalanches.

‘In the Peruvian Andes alone, nearly thirty thousand people have already died from melting glaciers,’ (501). In the years 1595 and 1818, Switzerland’s Giétroz Glacier dam, the Val de Bagnes, ruptured killing hundreds of people. In many cases Glaciers were thought to be deadly devastators as they destroyed human lives. During the 1960’s Soviet engineers dropped black soot from planes on sheets of polar ice in hopes to melt the ice.

Glaciers also represented spirituality and the sublime for some, as the large ice masses were beautifully untouched nature. In the article, Carey discusses that glaciers also led to activities that promoted exploration and imperialistic, often racist, projects that created landscapes for colonial encounters. According to Carey, ‘in some cases, glaciers became integral to explorers’ experiences and thus sites where groups contested and negotiated their social, racial, gender, ethnic, and national identities,’ (506).

*Ice: Broadening Research History of Ice and Art Carey, M. (2007, July). The history of ice: how glaciers became an endangered species. Environmental History, 12(1), 497-527.

*Ice: Broadening Research History of Ice and Art Carey, M. (2007, July). The history of ice: how glaciers became an endangered species. Environmental History, 12(1), 497-527.

*Ice: Broadening Research History of Ice and Art Carey, M. (2007, July). The history of ice: how glaciers became an endangered species. Environmental History, 12(1), 497-527.

Topic: History of Ice – Global Warming Glaciers and Global Warming – As early as the 1800’s scientists were connecting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as a link to rising temperatures.

In 1896, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius noted that doubling the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can raise temperatures five or six degrees Celsius. By the late 1970’s-1980’s scientists developed computer-generated climate analysis. The discovery of the ozone hole over Antarctica in 1985 along with acid rains led people to have greater awareness of climate change.

Carey explains that glaciers have contributed to the scientific studies of climate change and public awareness of climate change.

News outlets today continue to report on glacial melting and climate change. In July of 2006, Science Daily magazine reported that almost fifty percent of the Alps glacier had vanished since 1850, and that nearly eighty percent could disappear by the year 2100. Glaciers have long been a source of the cleanest freshest water source to humans and many animal species.

Glaciers are basically large frozen storage containers of water. ‘As a result of this capacity to store water and regulate stream flow, many worry that the disappearing glaciers are threatening the livelihoods of millions of people and the future of countless species,’ (515).

*Ice: Broadening Research History of Ice and Art Gade, C. (2007, March 13). Icy Qeen. Dappled Things. Retrieved from https://dappledthings.wordpress.com/2007/03/13/icy-queen/ Topic – Ice Castles While I was broadening my research of historical ice sculpture and art, I came acorss the story of a Russian Empress, Tsaritsa Anna Ivanovna who had an ice castle built in Czarist Russia for her wedding. In her article Icy Queen, Gade details that the castle was build with huge blocks of ice which were ‘glued’ together with water. The gardens were filled with ice carved trees and an ice sculpture of an elephant. According to Gade, ‘the palace was also furnished with furniture made of ice, including a bed with ice mattress and pillows.’

The empress was said to have autocratic authority and used police force to intimidate or execute those who were suspected as enemies or against her. At that time, about 20,000 Russians were exiled to Siberia. Ivanovna was said to be a wicked icy queen who took pleasure in teasing and torturing others. As a joke, Empress Ivanovna ordered Prince Mkhail Golistyn to marry one of her ugliest maids. She then made the newlyweds sleep naked in an icy room in her ice palace. Prince Golistyn and his new wife survived this cold night, and remained married eventually having two children.

*Ice: Broadening Research History of Ice and Art Gade, C. (2007, March 13). Icy Qeen. Dappled Things. Retrieved from https://dappledthings.wordpress.com/2007/03/13/icy-queen/

*Ice: Broadening Research History of Ice and Art Curtiss, M. (1973, February 23). The empress Anna’s ice palace. History Today, 23(2). Retrieved from http:// www.historytoday.com/mina-curtiss/empress-anna%E2%80%99s-ice-palace

*Ice: Broadening Research History of Ice and Art Agranoff, A., & Anderes, F. (1987, January). The magic chill of ice palaces still beckons us. Smithsonian, 17(1), 62-69.

Topic – Ice Castles After I read about Empress Tsaritsa Anna Ivanovna’s ice castle, I was interested to further research the topic of historical ice castles. I found an article on the libray database called The Magic Chill of Ice Palaces Still Beckons Us. Empress Ivanovna’s ice castle was the first recorded in history. The Russians built hundreds of ice castles, some even more remarkable than Empress Anna’s.

Around a hundred years later, ice castles flourished in the United States and Canada. In North America, large ice castles were often built for winter carnivals.

Montreal was famous for it’s large sports spectaculars. Ice palaces became a showcase for many sporting events in Montreal. In 1886 St. Paul was the fastest growing city in the U.S. Architect C.E. Joy designed ‘three of the most memorable ice palaces –- two in St. Paul and one for the Crystal Carnival in Leadville, Colorado. In 1887 Joy’s first ice place in St. Paul opened as the tallest ever built in which he created a Gothic wonderland with a huge ice skating rink in the center.

*Ice: Broadening Research History of Ice and Art Agranoff, A., & Anderes, F. (1987, January). The magic chill of ice palaces still beckons us. Smithsonian, 17(1), 62-69.

*Ice: Broadening Research History of Ice and Art Agranoff, A., & Anderes, F. (1987, January). The magic chill of ice palaces still beckons us. Smithsonian, 17(1), 62-69.

Topic – Ice Castles In 1987 authors Agranoff and Anderes explain that ice castles continue to host winter carnivals all over the world. ‘in Sapporo, Japan and in Harbin, China, yearly festivals feature small palaces and large sculptures, all exquisitely fashioned from ice or snow,’ (68). Since 1947 in the United States the town of Saranac Lake has built an ice palace for their winter carnival every year. Professor Marcel Kalberer in Germany inspired his students to built a “City of Ice” using netting, awnings, and balloons for framework. New technology and construction techniques have allowed for the magic of ice sculptures to continue for hundreds of years into today.

*Ice: Broadening Research History of Ice and Art Agranoff, A., & Anderes, F. (1987, January). The magic chill of ice palaces still beckons us. Smithsonian, 17(1), 62-69.

* Mind Map Exploration

Using a few previous mind-maps, a new mind-map, and a list of ideas I have circled the main concepts I am interested in exploring.

* Mind Map Exploration

* Documentation: Initial Experiments and Material Process After I realized that I wanted to work with ice, I began to make a small practice layered ice sculptural piece. My plan was to freeze each layer with a nature design, then add a new layer and freeze it. I did not think about the water moving my design as I poured the water on to freeze. The first time I experimented with this, my designs got mixed up with the water and did not freeze how I wanted them to. I realized that I needed to come up with a plan to keep my designs in place after I pour on the water to freeze. I came up with an idea to lay each layer on the frozen ice, then slowly spray the design with a spray bottle and continue to freeze it until the design is frozen in place, and at that point I can pour water on top for the next layer of freezing.

* Brief Discussion/Process and Metaphors When I originally began sampling and exploring materials I started to practice working on a wood cut to create a print. Working with wood cuts and printing is something I have always wanted to tap into. I am really inspired by artists Julie Goldstein and Swoon who both make incredible wood cut inks.

One theme I love to work with is nature. After we created our mind-maps in the library, and shared ideas with our classmates I realized several other elements I would love to work with. One main element I want to experiment and work with is ice. I thought of ways I can mix ice with nature to experience what it’s like when ice melts. I began practicing nature designs that I could freeze into layers of ice blocks. Though I decided to work with ice and nature, I know I still want to incorporate the use of wood. I still plan to work with wood-cut printing, but for this experimental art project my ideas have shifted towards an installation of nature and ice. I drew out a couple of ideas for creating a structure to hang ice sculptural blocks of nature designs.

* Brief Discussion/Process and Metaphors The reason I really like the idea of working with ice is because it is not a permanent element, and over time ice melts leaving nothing but water behind.

Ice starts out as water, and then turns back into water. I think the melting of ice is interesting because this is something that is happening on a wider scale with global warming melting ice glaciers. The melting of ice is like a representation of time. Ice has covered parts of our planet since the beginning of time. The melting of ice is like the fading of beauty and youth. In the beginning the ice is new, young, fresh, and beautiful. As the ice begins to melt, it slowly loses it’s shape and starts to deteriorate in form. I feel like the cycle of ice melting metaphorically relates to all cycles of life within nature. Such as a beautiful flower that will eventually wilt and die before the life cycle starts over the next season.

The process of the melting of ice made me think of the fragility of time.

We never know how much time we have to live within this life time. Time is the essence of everything that is incorporated in our lives. Time began before we were here, and time continues after we are gone. In Bill Viola’s film he connects with time through video. I thought it was really powerful how he connected time, life, and death within his film. Viola connects with the beginning of life as he observed infants opening their eyes for the first time, an entrance into the world. Towards the end of the film Viola includes footage of his mother leaving the world on her death bed mixed with images of his new born baby. I thought about how difficult it must be on an emotional level to include his dying mother in the film, as this is the way so many viewers will remember her because we did not see the life in her. Viola’s film, and his connections with time and life-cycles really inspired me. I became emotional after we viewed the film, as I was thinking about the death of my dad which was five years ago and how I would have reacted if I were in the middle of a project such as Viola was during his mother’s passing.

* Brief Discussion/Process and Metaphors Over the past three weeks I have practiced hanging two ice sculptural pieces with nature designs frozen in layers on campus. My first practice ice did not hang, as the rope I froze in the middle was not strong enough. So I set it against a rock to slowly watch it melt. This piece was a small round circular frozen piece, and it melted within the span of three hours. The second practice piece was slightly larger in rectangular shape, and I used a stronger rope than the first time. This last Thursday, on March 3, Judy helped me hang my practice piece outside of the Arts building on the third floor from the tree outside. It was such a beautiful day, and I came to campus early so I could sit outside and document/watch the process of the ice melting.

While I sat outside watching the ice melt, I worked on shaving down a wooden piece that will be a part of the final installation design. At first, I did not plan on sound as an element of my design process. However, as I sat outside shaving my wood piece I started to hear the droplets of water dropping into a container I set on the ground under the ice sculptural piece as it melted. It was such a peaceful sound, with the sound of birds and nature in the background and the slow dripping as the ice melted. I am working on testing how I can incorporate that drip sound within my final installation.

*Documentation These are some sketches I have made over the past month of designs I am interested in for my final installation.

*Documentation This was my first practice layered frozen piece. The rope I used was not strong enough so it broke. I placed the piece against a rock to view the melting process.

*Documentation This piece was displayed in the direct path of sunlight. Over the span of two and a half hours, it melted down to this.

*Documentation

*Documentation

*Documentation I hung this piece around noon last Thursday outside of the Arts building in a tree. These two pictures were taken around 5:15pm right before I went to class.

*Documentation Sound I didn’t originally plan to implement sound within this creation.

While I was sitting outside watching the melting process, the ice began to drip back into its original form making a dripping sound in the mold it was frozen into. The sound of the droplets mixed with the sound of the birds and surrounding nature made the experience of this piece a calming natural environment.

*Documentation