Icy Platelets
19 x 25m

Spraypaint, acrylic emulsion and augmented reality on concrete

This new mural is a result of an interdisciplinary exchange of environmental scientist Elizabeth Skelton (Christchurch) and myself. Here’s a bit of background info for context:

“A reduction in sea ice formation has been observed across Antarctica each year since 2016, compared with historic averages. These changes have been observed locally in McMurdo Sound; four of the past seven years have seen southerly storm events resulting in delayed landfast sea ice formation over the winter months. Attached below the consolidated fast ice, the sub-ice platelet layer (SIPL) is a crystallized and porous layer of ice situated between the ocean and floating sea ice, found in the vicinity of ice shelves. SIPLs play a critical role in the rapidly changing ecosystem within McMurdo Sound and the Southern Ocean.”

Skelton, Elizabeth

I interpreted these research results in my own visual way. The melting look aims to symbolize a changing environment, in which ice plays a major role and is depicted in a watery manner. Circular elements represent the food chain and the lonely penguin made of glass represents critical changes for his food supply (small red triangles) and that of a larger group of local predators.

Kindly made possible through Flare Streetaret Festival, Pangeaseed, Goethe Institut New Zealand and Montana Cans 🤜🤛