Antarctic Arts Fellowship Final Application: 2017-06-23

Proposal summary:

Another Time: Temporal Rhythms in the Antarctic Summer.

My project aims to create compelling visual representations of environmental change in the Antarctic. It will use time-lapse and still photography, real-time video, animation, and data visualisation to investigate human and naturally driven processes operating across a range of temporal scales in this remote and sensitive region.

Detailed description:

This project seeks to create innovative new representations of Antarctica through a photographic investigation of temporal changes occurring in the Antarctic environment.

It aims to reveal previously hidden aspects of the Antarctic landscape, its weather and its eco-systems, through the development of art-works that explore the unique time-scapes of the southern polar regions. It will offer new ways of understanding the movements of water, ice, animals and people, as they go about their “daily” lives under the ever-present summer sun.

This Fellowship would be an opportunity to apply these techniques to the representation of Antarctica in order to emphasise its scientific, cultural and aesthetic values.

Central to my visual arts practice is a deep connection with place facilitated by periods of intimate engagement with the environments I represent. Travelling to the Antarctic would enable me to gain authentic experiences of this inspiring region whilst generating location specific imagery.

The project would entail a number of parallel approaches to collecting imagery. Installation of weather-proof battery operated time-lapse cameras in permanent positions with an over-view of the station would allow imagery to be captured during the entirety of my visit and enable the development of ‘time-slice’ animations of base life. I would explore with a mobile version of this setup, producing high-quality time-lapse visualisations of shorter time frames across a range of locations. A conventional camera setup would also be used to make still and moving images during my base and field explorations. Lastly, I would like to access to environmental data that would contextualise and extend the meaning of the imagery.