Temporary sculptures (2024). Photogrammetry of icebergs, glacial meltwater

The Arctic has long served as a symbol for uncharted territory and inspired countless travel journals and adventurous stories. It has been portrayed as endless white, a blank canvas of sorts, the last frontier of freedom awaiting a hero’s discovery. Mapping an unknown is always intertwined with power dynamics and challenges the cultures and well-being of its indigenous inhabitants. While often represented as grandiose, sublime resists on being captured whilst possibly overshadowing more nuanced perspectives. Today, a realm primarily accessible to scientists and polar bear cruises, with ongoing climate warming, new corridors for transportation and opportunities for resource extraction are emerging. The Arctic, so romanticized, sublime, and untouched on one hand, is also exceptionally fragile and vulnerable to climate change on the other.

The exhibition stems from fieldwork conducted around Svalbard and on Icelandic glaciers, engaging playfully with the methods of art and science, touching upon the challenges of climate change communication, and questioning the role of the sublime in the present day.

The Ambassadors thank Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture, Estonian Polar Club for their support, and The Arctic Circle and SÍM residencies for the opportunity to work in the Arctic and on glaciers.

Press

Tühi valge ja jääsinine by Andrus Laansalu (In Estonian)

Interview in Kunstiministeerium (In Estonian)

Jan: There’s ice in the Arctic too, right?

Chat: Yes, there is a lot of ice in the Arctic, it is one of the most characteristic features of this region. 😊

Jan: If I were ice – i.e. if we imagine for a moment that you have the opportunity to communicate with ice – then what question would you ask me?

Chat: “How do you always remain so calm and dignified, even when you are threatened with a meltdown?”

Jan: And what sentence do you think I would say in response?

Chat: “I remain calm because I know that every change I make is part of nature’s eternal cycle.”

Jan: What would you ask then, i.e. based on this answer?

Chat: “Do you ever have a fear that this cycle might be interrupted?”

Jan: If you imagine the ice in its peace and dignity, then what sentence would it respond with?

Chat: “I am not afraid, because even if I disappear, my essence will remain as water, mist or clouds, always part of the world.”

Jan: Another possible answer would be: “I am not afraid, because I do not exist anywhere else but on Earth.” But if it suits you, let’s continue the game. If you could ask one question from the ice covering the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa, what would you ask?

Chat: “What secrets do you carry within you from your distant past and cosmic birth?”

Jan: But wouldn’t you be interested whether organic life could be found beneath Europa’s hundred-kilometer layer of ice?

Chat: Absolutely! Then I would ask: “Are there conditions beneath your deep layer of ice that could support life?”

Jan: What do you think Europa’s ice would answer? Or what answer would you like yourself?

Chat: Europa’s ice could answer something mystical and hopeful, like: “Below me are secrets that no one has yet discovered: maybe there is life, maybe just the music of silence, but the answers await those who dare to seek.” This answer would reflect Europa’s mystical nature and man’s quest to understand the universe.