Interviews with the Ice

Abstract

Although artists and scientists often work together for a visual rendering of scientific concepts, rarely do the two come together in a such a close-knit, equal collaboration, in which the germination of the idea and the weaving together of art and science result in an oeuvre in which the scientist explains the science to the artist and the artist gives the artistic view of the science itself, allowing the public to enter the art to see the science. The data remains the same, with two different media providing different interpretive perspectives.   In this project, five specific events in the history of the Greenland ice sheet are “interviewed”, showing how the art and science are interlinked. “Interviews” is a multimodal art installation that seeks to provide viewers with an embodied understanding of glacial change. Through a range of scientific and artistic methodologies we identify distinct phases of knowledge-building about Greenland’s ice as opportunities where texture, form, and diverse data can provide openings for encountering an otherwise overwhelming or threatening reality. Through “Interviews,” viewers are invited to see in Greenland’s past possibilities for a different future. “Interviews” depicts technical advances that have enabled progress in our understanding of Greenland’s Ice Sheet evolution over the millennia. The five columns, illustrate updates in methods of studying the ice, and are a testament to the ways that diverse data provide complementary insights to the same question, while at the same time illuminating new questions.