Ice, Blood and Soot, Thule in Greenland 1993 and 1995

 

On the underwater cleft between Thule/Qaanaaq and Herbert Island in Northern Greenland, the icebergs strand and bond to the ice layer of the sea. In Winter and Spring the icebergs loom as a sculpture park with an enormous span.

 

Blood, soot, a primus stove, ladders and painting tools were transported out to a point between the icebergs. Tokumerq Qaaaviaaq, a native of the region familiar with the character and condition of the ice, was helpful in initially pointing out the stable icebergs from the unstable ones. Even minimal stress can release inner tensions in the compact ice, causing unstable icebergs to explode.

 

The intension was to form a unified view of the breaks and cracks in the surface of the iceberg, and subsequently accentuate them with blood and soot blended with methyl alcohol spirit.

Both projects were carried out in the month of April, when the temperature was 10 degrees below freezing, with the sun in constant trajectory in the sky around the clock.

This meant that transport of equipment, decisions, application of blood and soot and photography had to be carried out on the sides in shadow, before the sun’s rays were caught by the colours and began to initiate meltdown.

 

The Glacier Project was carried out on the Qaanaaq Glacier, its surface cracks highlighted with soot on an approximately 40 x 200 meter area.