ANNE BRODIE

UK, °1949

In 2006-2007 kreeg kunstenares Anne Brodie het Antarctic international fellowship toegewezen, dat gesteund wordt de British Antarctic Survey (BAS) en de Arts Council England. Hierdoor kon ze bijna drie maanden leven en werken op Antarctica in de Rotherabasis van het BAS. Voor Polar Expeditions presenteert Brodie een video-installatie die getoond wordt op vier schermen. De vier verschillende films vormen een persoonlijke en erg menselijke getuigenis van de desoriënterende en overdonderende ervaringen die Brodie op Antarctica beleefde.

Polar Expeditions >

Website: annebrodie.co.uk

1. How did you get interested in the poles (old fascination, lecture, meeting, documentary)?

My work has always been very minimalist and proccess driven, visiting a vast empty white space was always something I dreamed of doing.. A total emersion.

2. How many trips to the poles did you make already?

Only one

3. When did you make them?

2006/2007

4. How long did you stay there?

3 months

5. Did you leave on your own or in a group? Why?

I was selected for a visiting fellowship by the UK Arts Council and The British Antarctic Survey.

6. What did you feel whilst travelling?

Overwhelmed, disorientated, excited.

7. With which challenges were you confronted during your trip(s)?

Trying to make work as a Visual artist in an environment that was effortlessly more dramatic, and disquieting than anything a human being could ever aspire to. In fact, my instinct as a human visitor was to make as little impact, as few marks as I could. I was intruding in a space that was never meant for us.

8. Do you consider making other trip(s)?

I would like to visit the Arctic.

9. Did you define the nature of your artistic project in advance?

Yes but this was soon abandoned as I realised the scale of what I was embarking on.

10. In which way did your project change by the conditions of its realisation?

I came to realise the only way I could see Antarctica was through trying to understand the human interaction with the environment – the way people have to work together in a community and the way in which everyone delt with the enormity of the physical and emotional task of living there. My work became less about object making and more about gathering a different sort of human ‘data’.

11. Once you were there, did you have contact with scientists? In which way did this encounter influence your work?

I lived and worked in close proximity with the British Antarctic Survey scientists and support staff . It influenced my work greatly. They were working under a great time restraint of the Antarctic summer collecting scientific data. By helping with their work, I let go of my role of ‘artist’, and was able to become part of the community rather than an outsider to the base (although we’re all outsiders in Antarctica). I relalised that the less quantifiable aspects of being in Antactica (the emotionele engagement) were being overlooked, yet felt by everyone.

12. Do you experience a certain form of urge to work on the poles?

Yes, the Poles are addictive to anyone who visits, but I’m also aware of how priveliged I was to have the opportuniy to even visit once and that I shouldn’t be greedy to go back. The experience has left enough of an impact help inform my future work for many years.

13. Do you possess a specific documentation of your trip(s)?