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YEDOMA YEDOMA  INSTALLATION
VIEW FROM UP HERE: THE ARCTIC AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD
Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, Alaska

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"A View From Up Here: The Arctic at the Center of the World" was an international art exhibition that ran at the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center from May 6 to October 2, 2016. The show was curated by Julie Decker, the museum's director.

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Christoph Kapeller was invited to explore a Yedoma, one of the most fascinating geological formations in Alaska and to transform it into an installation at the museum show.

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The installation consisted of a photo documentation, a 12 ft tall sculpture as its center piece, soil samples and a sound documentation from the day of the visit at the Yedoma.

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The sculpture whose surface is made of paper pulp is an artistic, 3-dimensional representation depicting the essence of the gigantic ice complex that is revealed at the Itkillik River.

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It feels like a giant core sample taken from the Yedoma Hills in which the paper sculpture is the figure while the void represents the field.​​​​

Viiew Camera in front of Yedoma at Itkillik River, Alaska

photo: Michael Conti

YEDOMA: MOUNDS OF LIFE

Yedomas are late Pleistocene, organic-rich, syngenetic permafrost ice complexes in continuously un-glaciated areas of Siberia and Alaska with ice content that ranges from 50-90 percent.  They consist of frozen silt, sand and organic material, interwoven by pillars of ice.

 

From above, the Yedoma terrain is often characterized by a series of large, undulating hills.

 

The Itkillik River exposure (69Ëš34’N, 150Ëš52’W) at the boundaries and foothills of the Arctic Coastal Plains is the most impressive known exposure in North America.  It is about 100 feet tall and 1,200 feet long.

 

The exposed silt and ice mounds contain buried, frozen life dating back 50,000 years.

 

As the early sun thaws the surface, the bluff comes to life.  Ancient life unfreezes for a moment before it finally disappears and rots away.  Due to the resulting odor of decay and rot, the locals call the exposure “The Stinking Hills”.

 

Later during the day as the color of the cliff changes into the muddy brown sludge of thawed earth, pieces of ice and soil separate from the cliff with a cracking sound before thudding into the river.

 

Closer study of the thawing surface reveals its ephemeral nature and a striking contrast between horizontal soil strata and vertical texture of intermittent ice columns.

 

This cliff is but a small exposure of a gigantic underground labyrinth of solid ice and frozen soil.  Based on the Itkillik River exposure, scientific data and the ever-present “Voronoy” polygon patterns of the arctic landscape, one can begin to imagine what these vast underground structures might look like.

 

All observations and recordings at the exposure were conducted on September 22nd, 2015 between 11am and 4pm, Alaska Standard Time (UTC-09:00).​​​​​

Christoph Kapeller wading through the Itkillik River

photo: Michael Conti

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photo: Michael Conti

Christoph Kapeller Installation at the Anchoorage Museum. Sculpture and photographs

photo: Michael Conti

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In addition, the contact surfaces between soil and ice, figure and field are singed to represent friction between the elements. 

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The installation explores the tension between the documentary material and the sensuality of the imagined figure.

Christoph Kapeller Installation at the Anchoorage Museum. Yedoma Sculpture
Christoph Kapeller Installation at the Anchoorage Museum. Yedoma Sculpture detail
Christoph Kapeller Installation at the Anchoorage Museum. Yedoma Sculpture, detail
Christoph Kapeller Installation at the Anchoorage Museum. Yedoma Sculpture, detail
Yeddoma Conceptual Drawing

YEDOMA, YEDOMA INSTALLATION

A VIEW FROM UP HERE. THE ARCTIC AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD

Scope: inception, research, production

Organizer: Anchorage Museum at Rasmusen

Year: 2015-2016

Project Type: art

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