Towards Heilprin Land

Overview

Geologic Intimacy
My work explores the relationship between geological phenomena and daily life. Whether boiling milk in a 100 degree Celsius suphur spring in the crater of an active volcano, or celebrating my birthday with a landmass of the same age, the geologic history and environmental situation specific to the locale directly informs the direction each piece takes.

Recent projects take as a starting point a personal experience with an unexpected geological phenomenon. Increasingly interconnected events of a political, historical and everyday nature are progressively drawn together to form a narrative. Each story explores the changeable nature of landmass, using geology as a language to understand our relationship to a constantly evolving world.

The project Emergent Landmass (a chronicle of disappearance) takes the island of Ferdinandea as its starting point, charting the history of a territory that no longer exists. In 1831, the island appeared off the southern coast of Sicily, sparking an international dispute over territorial ownership of this strategically positioned heap of young geology. Before any serious conflicts developed, the island disappeared, crumbling back into the sea. Drawings attempting to describe the perpetual formation and erosion of new landmass, a text and the only remaining mineral samples of Ferdinandea, which were taken in 1831 when it was still above water, all feature.

Whilst searching for news of Ferdinandea, I discovered an early volcanologist named Angelo Heilprin. Though he may be a distant relative, it is definite that part of Greenland holds his name.

Towards Heilprin Land
Part one, the nature of love as explained by a geoscientist. Part two, a voyage towards Heilprin Land.

During time I spent this summer with volcanologists, we discussed their long-term relationships with volcanoes from around the world. Seen from the deck of a ship in the North Atlantic off the coast of northeast Greenland, the aurora borealis fills the sky. From my porthole: icebergs, glacial walls, pack ice, which can only be likened to cracking bones.

Volcanic stories from the Smithsonian collide with polar encounters from a fragile landmass in the north in Towards Heilprin Land, a new project developed for SB8.


This project was part of Sharjah Biennial 8.