Name/Title
Antarctica Vol. 2 (Land Ice)Entry/Object ID
2022.25a–hDescription
Eight photographs of ice, snow, and other bodies of water in Antarctica.Context
Part of Blumenfeld's Polar Project which started in 2004. The project is an evolving series of large scale, environment-focused artworks that document the Arctic and Antarctica.
The Land Ice volume depicts various formations of surface ice that occur on the continent of Antarctica as a result of the incredible force of the wind. Catabatic winds, as they are called, blow out from the large, elevated ice sheets toward the sea. The buildup of high density cold air over the ice sheets, combined with high elevation brings enormous gravitational energy, which propels the winds to incredible speed, sometimes surpassing even hurricane force. The catabatic winds carve a deep incurvation at the base of the nunataks (rock mountains) as they blow around them, forming ice walls that are upwards of fifty feet high. Like a moat, the wind scoops surround these majestic rock castles, leaving a frozen lake at the bottom in hues of the lightest blues, and rippled like the surface of water. These images were taken inside the wind scoop at the base of Vesleskarvet, a nunatak at the northeastern edge of the Ahlmann Ridge Range in the Queen Maud Land area of Antarctica. They portray the rippling and bubbling of the frozen lake on the floor of the wind scoop, as well as the wind’s carving of the surface of the towering ice walls.Acquisition
Accession
2022.23-25Source or Donor
Patrick DuffyAcquisition Method
GiftCredit Line
Gift of Patrick Duffy and Luis VelazquezDimensions
Dimension Description
SheetHeight
22 inWidth
17 inDimension Description
ImageHeight
9 inWidth
13-1/2 in