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Arctic 22

En febrero de 2022 fui invitada como artista residente al Artico, en Kilpisjärvi, Laponia. La invitación estaba entretejida con el 5º Taller de Teoría de Conjuntos del Ártico, organizado por el Grupo de Lógica de Helsinki y dirigido por Juliette Kennedy.

 

Yo propuse desarrollar un proyecto que consistiera en tomar conciencia, explorar y tratar de captar diferentes cualidades del tiempo en relación con el paisaje y el lugar. Tenía en mente la investigación que he venido realizando en la Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas) sobre la presencia del tiempo en el paisaje. También tenía en mente las potencialidades de la materia como comunicador vibrante que partían de las ideas de Jane Bennet en Vibrant Matter. El lugar fue la Estación de Investigación Biológica de la Universidad de Helsinki en Kilpisjärvi (69°03'N; 20°50'E). El lapso de tiempo fue del 15 al 20 de febrero. El tiempo que exploraba era el tiempo extendido del lugar atrapado en los procesos morfogenéticos.

 

Entre las cualidades que quería destacar estaba el tiempo que compartíamos con los 23 participantes del taller mientras estábamos allí. Les invité a hacer una ofrenda; como acción simbólica colectiva, era una forma de dar gracias (a la vida, a la naturaleza, a algún/os Dios/es) por lo que habíamos podido hacer y experimentar en esta expedición al norte de Finlandia. El contexto era muy importante para nosotros, ya que la reunión se había pospuesto durante un año debido a la pandemia de Covid.

 

El término ofrenda viene del inglés antiguo ofrian "traer o presentar, hacer una presentación, mostrar, exhibir". También viene de "Offerre" en latín, que es presentar, otorgar, traer delante. Como gesto simbólico, la ofrenda significa ralentizar el tiempo del evento durante unos minutos, y exponer, nombrar y compartir de alguna manera algo de lo que hemos aprendido, comprendido o experimentado durante estos días viviendo este "tiempo compartido colectivo".

 

Esta página contiene los trabajos que hice allí, los procesos y el resultado de La Ofrenda. Como está relacionado centralmente con el tiempo, el proyecto continuó: los trozos de hielo estuvieron en el Centro Biológico hasta el 24 de marzo cuando la temperatura subió a +8 c. Aino Hamälläinen, con quien estoy muy agradecida, me envió fotos del proceso que vivieron las piezas mientras avanzó el invierno y llegó la primavera.

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In February 2022 I was invited as a resident artist to the Arctic in Kilpisjärvi (Lapland). The invitation was interwoven with the 5th Arctic Set Theory Workshop, organized by the Helsinki Logic Group and conducted by Juliette Kennedy.

 

I proposed to develop a project that consisted in being aware, exploring and trying to capture different qualities of time in relation to the landscape and the place. I had in my mind the research that I have been doing at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Instituto de Inevstigaciones Estéticas) about the presence of time in the landscape. I also had in mind the potentialities of matter as a vibrant communicator that departed from the ideas of Jane Bennet in Vibrant Matter. The place was the University of Helsinki's Biological Research Station in Kilpisjärvi (69°03'N; 20°50'E). The time-lapse was from February 15 to February 20. The time I was exploring was the extended time of the place traped in morphogenetic processes.

 

Among the qualities I wanted to underline was the time we were sharing with the 23 participants of the workshop while we were there. I invited them to make an offering; as a collective symbolic action, it was a way of giving thanks (to life, to nature, to some God/s) for what we have been able to do and experience on this expedition to the North of Finland. The context was very important for us since the meeting had been postponed for a year due to the Covid pandemic.

The term offering comes from the Old English ofrian “to bring or put forward, to make a presentation, to show, exhibit. It also comes from “Offerre” in Latin which is to present, to bestow, bring before. As a symbolic gesture, the offering meant to slow the time of the event for some minutes, and put forward, name, and share in some way something of what we have learned, understood, or experienced during these days living this “collective shared time”.

This page contains the work I did there, the processes, and the result of The Offering. As it is centrally related to the weather, the project continued: the ice pieces were in the Biological Center until March 24 when the temperature rose to +8 c. Aino Hamälläinen, to whom I am very grateful, sent me the last photos of the process when the pieces completely melted as winter progressed and spring arrived.

Ice chunks from Kilpisjärvi lake. Water + 3 months (+/-)

Water + 43 hours

Pieces of ice from the Kilpisjärvi lake + water + 43 hours

Water + 43 hours: processes 

Meanwhile

The Offering

David Asperó booked classroom SCI0.31 at the University of East Anglia for one hour, from 6:15 pm to 7:15 pm, exactly during the time in which The Offering was happening in the arctic. The room in England was officially empty while the action was taking place. The room most likely did remain empty throughout that hour, thereby marking the passage of time through empty space. We will never know for sure what really happened there, though. All of this was publicly shared with everybody who was present in the arctic while it was happening. 

DAVID ASPERO BOOKING.JPG

Juliette Kennedy read the poem Let the evening come by Jane Kenyon

Juliette reads Jane Kenyon
Juliette Kennedy

Andrés Villaveces offered an almost invisible line: he drew it with snow on the ice blocks and gave me this text and drawings. The line disappeared, erased by the wind.

Andrés Villaveces
Andrés Villaveces
Andrés Villaveces

Dima Sinapova offered the weaving of her memories with Vincent as an art piece that evolves with time:

We are creating memories in the Arctic with Vincent, and although he won't remember this week "first hand", by retelling him later that he was there, how it went, showing pictures, we will "maintain" the memory for him. And so the memory itself can be viewed as an offering or a piece of art.

Vincent.jpg

Photo: Andrés Villaveces

Thinking about the morphogenetical procesess Miguel Moreno proposed his doctoral thesis and the pen with which he wrote both his doctoral and undergraduate theses.

Miguel Moreno
Miguel Moreno

Philipp Schlicht shared this thought regarding the passing of time in the landscape: while we were on a short hike last week, someone noticed on the way back that our deep footprints in the snow were now barely visible. It was windy and there was a lot of snow blown around by the wind. I feel the snow landscape looks static, but is actually changing and has its own life.

I invited the participants to think about different temporalities captured in various ice pieces. Some of those pieces were made by me and others I carried from the Kilpisjärvi lake. Then I asked each one of the participants to grab one piece that for some reason they found appealing. While they were holding the piece the ice was continually melting making evident a process of morphogenetical entropy.

Trying to capture morphogenetical entropies

Coda:

Aino Hämäläinen, who works in Kilpisjärvi, has been sending me pictures of the changing images during this past month. Last Thursday 24 of March the temperature in the North was +8: this and some previous temperatures above 0 way to high for the time of the year converted the ice pieces into water again; this water is already looking for its way down to the lake starting the process once more.

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Special thanks to Hannu Autto and Aino Hämäläinen for their logistical support at the Kilpisjärvi Biological Station.

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