“What stands out during a sojourn in the Arctic and seems always part of travel in a wild landscape, is the long struggle of the mind for concordance with that mysterious entity, the earth” – Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams
In the spring of 1989, I spent a month as artist-in-residence in the Arctic Awareness Program which was under the Canada Council and the Polar Continental Shelf Project in Resolute, Cornwallis Island. The program offered artists an opportunity to experience the Arctic, live among scientists and learn something of their research. I had been using magnetic material in my sculptures so, geologically, this was the ideal place to test my work. Resolute is at 77 degree latitude.
In my studio I created two large kinetic sculptures which I planned to set up in the Arctic and document: Counterpoints and Arc. Arc is a 16’ tripod structure made from aluminum, a 6’ steel bow and neodymium magnets suspended with a monofilament thread, and bronze plumbob for stability. I installed it over an exposed mesozoic rock with a deep fissure. Then it sang. Harmonic oscillations, beautiful electronic sounds flowing out over the tundra. It sang as it moved and dipped, or went silent when stopped, then sang again with violent jerky movements. This phenomena continued its haunting electronic sound until it was removed dismantled on Canada Day July 1.
I had no recording device until sound technician J. Vistig of Karvonen Films recorded five minutes of the harmonic oscillation, otherwise it might be met with disbelief.
Months later, articles referred to 1989 as the apex of a twelve-year cycle of intense solar flares and sunspots, causing blackouts in New York. In 2001 NASA had a sound recording of Voyager’s orbit around Mars of electronic sounds, but they were not harmonic oscillations.
My time in that phenomenal landscape was life changing and inevitably for my artistic life. Though I had spent some years before in the north, the Yukon, nothing prepared me for the profound experience I had in the Arctic.
Every Canadian needs to see it, once.
6.15.89: It's 2am. air is still, in this silence, my boots crunch rocks and ice... holding steel parts I looked for a flat place. somewhere, to put down Arc, my work... I stopped at a large deeply cracked mesozoic rock .
With the loose wrapped magnetic steel bar in hand my hair begin to crackle. I hear a faint high thin sound , kind of electronic from steel bar I was holding ... what is it? Out here, on this empty edge, at 2 am I was alone, excited, mystified and spooked. Will it stop singing if I remove the wrapping or step away? what to do? Slowly carefully, removed plastic wrap, hold steel. it still sang .. louder .. I hung the bar up with thread .... it began to oscillate harmonics drift out over tundra, amazing, beautiful as if “tuning” the shimmering sea ice.
I sat long, watched, listened. shaking from excitement . . . the sun is high.. try and sleep
6.16.89 Invitation to all camp : Art Opening down by big rock on the Beach: Scientists came, looked it over couldn’t tell me why. So they toasted the invisible forces with invisible drinks. Arc kept singing.... as if the earth is singing, said someone.
6.1.89 Chance to spend a couple of hours on sea ice near King Christian Island. Short flight with cameraman from Korea to photograph arrival of Korean team trek over MNP. Out here on sea ice the light is more intense, colour more pure ,the air was filled with ice crystals I can see the pilot, he’s over two miles away, I. ..lost my sense of perspective, what is far is so near The silence is silencing. I sit listening and I see the Arctic’s unbroken bow of time
6. 21.89 Summer Solstice, I’m as near to zero latitude as I'd ever be. Lying on my back I watch the day turn on its inclined axis toward the sun.
