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The overlapping memory of two small but very old pieces of glacial ice, 2016 - Photo: María del Pilar García Ayensa / Studio Olafur Eliasson
The overlapping memory of two small but very old pieces of glacial ice, 2016
Photo: María del Pilar García Ayensa / Studio Olafur Eliasson
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The overlapping memory of two small but very old pieces of glacial ice, 2016

The overlapping memory of two small but very old pieces of glacier ice is one of a series of watercolours produced using chunks of ancient glacial ice that were fished from the sea off the coast of Greenland. Placed near the centre of a circle delineated by a thin wash of colour, the ice gradually melted. The resulting water displaced the pigment, creating organic swells and fades within the established tone and complex new borderlines within the original geometry of the circle. This procedure was repeated to make two overlapping circles – one blue, the other black – on a bright yellow ground. Employing chance and natural processes, these watercolours are experiments that attempt to harness the spontaneous behaviour of natural phenomena as active co-producers of the artwork.

Artwork details

Title

The overlapping memory of two small but very old pieces of glacial ice

Year

2016

Materials

Watercolour, Indian ink, glacial ice, and pencil on paper