How do we measure the world? Does the possession of huge quantities of information and representations bring us closer to our world or lead us further into unearthly abstraction? A puddle, photographed near Cabo de Roca in Portugal, the westernmost point of continental Europe, was drawn and measured at 1-to-1 scale as a preliminary study for the subsequent, larger-scale research and performance project ‘The Coastline Paradox: Measuring a Nameless Island’ by artist Elizabeth McTernan. According to Lewis Fry Richardson’s coastline paradox, one could wind the world’s most precise ruler around every single pebble, grain of sand, and molecule on an island’s perimeter so thoroughly that its seemingly finite length could actually unfurl into millions upon millions of kilometres. The smaller the unit of measure, the higher the resolution and the larger the totality of the measurement. Our small, isolated world could, in fact, go on forever.

‘Northwest Passage’ is a site-specific installation on the ceiling of an outdoor passageway at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Olafur’s installation spans 90 feet and is comprised of seven LED rings hanging from and reflected in thirty polished stainless-steel panels. The seven semi-circular rings, each lined with an LED light and diffuser, are reflected in the mirror panels, creating the appearance of complete circles of light. This project draws inspiration from the dramatic thinning of the ice coverage of a historically impassable frozen route through the Arctic Ocean linking the Pacific to the Atlantic. As of the summer of 2007, the effects of climate change have allowed vessels to sail the passage without requiring an icebreaker, an event that scientists predict will become more and more common with the continued effects of global warming. This development is both a byproduct of global industry and at the same time encourages the growth of trans-global freight shipping that will only further impact the climate.

Now that Ice Watch in London has come to a close, we have received the final carbon-footprint report commissioned from Julie’s Bicycle, a London-based charity that supports the creative community to act on climate change and environmental sustainability. According to Julie’s Bicycle, ‘The carbon footprint resulting from the exhibition of Ice Watch London was a total 39 tonnes CO2e, or 1.3 tonnes CO2e per block of ice. The carbon cost for bringing each block of ice is approximately equal to one person flying from London to Greenland to witness the ice melting of the Greenland ice sheet (1.2 tonnes CO2e per return flight).’ The full report is available on icewatchlondon.com (scroll down to the press section).

The island series, 1997

What goes up, 2018

‘On the second day of walking, we let the topography, the rolling hills and mountains, guide us as we embarked on a journey without a trail. Distance had to be estimated and negotiated. Navigation became a concern. We set out in the morning across the obsidian fields called Hrafntinnusker, west of the volcano Hekla. The black volcanic glass reflected our bodies, movement, and the sky like mirrors scattered all over the ground. It generated a sense of fragility in us when we walked, causing every little step to be tentative rather than confident. To walk is to produce an instant future. Here the future was rich with uncertainty. As we walked through the fields of shiny surfaces, the obsidian deflected our gaze from what lay ahead, constructing a sense of the space we had just left behind. Like a rear-view mirror, the black stones gave a “then” to our “now” and “soon”. Time was given space. Immediate futures were produced through fragmented images of the past.’ From ‘Rear view time’, written by Olafur after a two-day hike in Iceland with his then students from the Institut für Raumexperimente in 2010. You can read the full essay here.

The volcano series, 2012

Lava floor, 2002

Lava kalejdoscope, 2012

Ice Watch in London has run out. A huge thanks to everyone involved in the project and to everyone who took the time to come by and have an experience with the glacial ice. We hope that Ice Watch created feelings of proximity, presence, and relevance, of narratives that you can identify with and that make us all engage.

Seu corpo da obra (Your body of work), Art and Science Museum, Singapore. Photo: Katia Zavialov. The work was first exhibited at SESC Pompeia, Sao Paolo, in 2011, where it took up a dialogue with Lina Bo Bardi’s exceptional building. Transparent sheets of foil - in cyan, magenta, and yellow - are suspended from the ceiling to form a maze. Additional colours appear when these hues visually overlap, forming compositions that continually change in response to the viewer’s movement through space. Seu corpo da obra was inspired by the work of Brazilian artist Helio Oiticica.

Little Sun's global impact to date - check out their year 2018 in pictures

Ice Watch, in front of Tate Modern, London

Ice Watch opens today on Bankside, outside TATE Modern, and in the City of London, outside Bloomberg’s European headquarters
11 December 2018 until the ice has melted
Follow the journey of the ice: icewatchlondon.com

#IceWatchLondon