"Arctic Nature" C-print on altuglass, 2007 - 2010
IPY science conference Oslo 2010
08.06.10 - 12.06.10
The IPY Oslo Science Conference will demonstrate, strengthen, and extend the International Polar Year's accomplishments in science and outreach. The conference is an essential opportunity to display and explore the full breadth and implications of IPY activities. The international and interdisciplinary science conference will in particular highlight the global impact of the changes that have been observed in the Polar Regions.
My abstract called “Ny alesund Pole 0”
An artist life in a scientist community in Polar context" is included in this program.
Valéry Grancher (artist) part of the project “Arts aux Pôles” IPEV (institut Polaire Paul Emile Victor) France (May 2007 – May 2008)
In this abstract I will try to share my art experience in Polar context and to talk about the crossing of our an artistic way of seen and a scientific one, by lecturing some of my thoughts and showing some of my productions…
I’m interested in this topic for over a decade (since the beginning of the world wild web) specially by focusing the globalization consequences on extreme territories statutes in the collective unconscious ...
I thought from 2005 to produce projects questioning our planet extrems:
- For example, at Palais de Tokyo site de création contemporaine in Paris, I tried to establish a cultural link between a Jivaros community in deep Amazon, named Shiwiars and living on the Equator line at the border in between Ecuador and Peru. This community has expressed a desire to establish contact with the world by publishing on Internet. This project was named "The Shiwiars project" who posed a look beyond the West ...
- As an archival project, a blog was created :
http://theshiwiarsproject.blogspot.com So, I had to design a project on one of our other planet clusters:
The opportunity was offered to me by a call to a residence by the french Polar Institute Paul Emile Victor (IPEV) for one month at the Arctic or Antarctica.
This call was organized through the International Polar Year (March 2007 - March 2008) and organized by the IPEV, Le Palais deTokyo, Arts aux Pôles and le Plateau (FRAC Ile de France). I chosed North Pole and more precisely the Rabot base at Ny Alesund in Spitzbergen because it is loaded with a rich history (as the starting point of Amundsen Zeppelin expedition to North Pole from Ny Alesund) and the large number of nations involved in the scientific community.
On the other hand, if Amazon was beyond the Western culture Ny Alesund is the Hyper - West, because of strategic issues, energy, economic, and political will are present ...
Ny Alesund is located at 79 ° N 12 ° E is 1 ° north of 80 ° representing area of the North Pole (80 N to 90 N)
So this project was the logical continuation of my Amazon project forming in my work, a sort of current diptych of 5 years ...
Throughout this project as for the Amazon Project, an archive was published online by creating a blog down all project phases throughout its chronology:
http://www.ny-alesund-pole0.org
Being based for a month to the Polar Base at Ny Alesund, this represents stay with one of many expeditions to the 80 ° North, for tracking the production and filming of my installation named Geopol. A trailer may be seen on this link :
http://www.vimeo.com/7863829I performed this residence during on one month on May 2007, and I was part of the scientist team for summer campaign on 2007. That brought to me a great opportunity to apply scientitific methodology in the way I am producing my art. Scientist and artists have on fact in common that they’re dealing with the way they’re looking the world subject :
Scientist are doing it on objective way
Artists are doing that on subjective way
A film was produced to show that, it may be seen on this link :
http://www.vimeo.com/8590645 « Ny Alesund Pole 0 » video installation 38 minutes
That’s giving a new way to produce art not on a planified and scheduled way as we use to do during our productions, but on an opportunistic way, by following scientists in their Works to get new focus to deal with…
I can say that’s the main reason why I produced specially videos for videos installations which were shown in different contemporary arts institutions in Europe such like Espace d’Art Concret de Mouans Sartoux, Musée des Beaux Art de Nîmes, Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Verbeke Fondation in Belgium and Jeu de Paume on 2011… This new way to produce art has brought me to think about how to define art ecology outside artworld and studios ? On a certain way, it’s tuning back to a form on romantism issued from 19Th century when artists wanted to escape cities to face nature like Caspar David Fiedrich.
The best is to quote my blog to illustrate what I am meaning, it illustrates perfectly the feelings and impressions that I crossed:
« In cities, the destination without wanderings lead to very Joycian epiphanies not devoid of beauty, poetry. But
what about a polar wandering? This is totally surreal, because walk requires a leave go, and inner calm. But is this possible with a rifle scarf and 306 balls in his pocket? This cross of hell will finally overshadow ...
But it all starts, when, after hours of walking on the banks of a fjord, we sit on a driftwood failed allowing water to leave lick the tip of my shoes. It was Bandalpyten. The rifle resting on my side, horizon leads the ballet. The lead curtains clash under clouds with very low curtains very white lights declining shades of purple and azure. The water is smooth as a sheet of steel, not a flood. A black scarification appears around the islands on slicks white (opposite sides) and vanish into the white sky.
Then a black comma strokes the water surface, a deep breath cleaves the silence, and then this thing goes to the bank and leads a ballet to ten meters away. Eiders fly tidal water, are circled above this small Orqual and time stretching ... 20 good minutes that seem to ten ... We dream, then getting up, you realize that if one verbalizes this experience, it becomes a cliché worthy of the 'lonely planet'.... Everything has already been seen and experienced, and this contemplation can not single be shared, but selfishly lived with a shy smile ... "
Valéry Grancher 2010
Articles
