ANDREA POLLI

US

Polar Expeditions >

Kunstenares Andrea Polli werkt voornamelijk rond geluidsenvironments. Gedurende 2007-2008 verbleef ze gedurende zeven weken in Antarctica in het kader van een National Science Foundation-residentie. Tijdens haar verblijf op de Zuidpool, maakte Polli geluidsopnames die ze vervolgens verwerkte in haar Sonic Antarctica project. Het resultaat is zowel een radiouitzending, een live performance als een viusele en geluidsinstallatie.

Website: www.andreapolli.com

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

I first became interested through working with the NASA Climate Research Group at Columbia University in 2004. They told me about the accelerated warming in the Arctic, and I created an artwork using real time images and data from the North Pole. Then I learned that there was an opportunity for artists to go to Antarctica through the US National Science Foundation so I applied.

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

Just one to the geographic South Pole.

3. When did you make them?

I was in Antarctica from 2007/2008.

4. How long did you stay there?

I stayed in Antarctica for about two months, but was at the geographic South Pole for only one day.

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

I went with the National Science Foundation, it is not possible to visit the South Pole station or the other sites I went to without authorization from the NSF, although I learned it was possible to get to the South Pole itself without authorization.

6. What did you feel whilst travelling?

It was an incredible experience, some aspects that affected me the most were the 24 hours/day of sunlight during the austral summer, the massive scale of the landscape beyond anything I had ever experienced, and the ability to really experience silence.

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

Since I was there to meet and interview scientists, the main challenges were finding the right people and conditions for the interviews. Another challenge were working around the tight restrictions put in place by Raytheon, the contractor that ran the US bases and the NSF. Because of the danger of the situation, both entities had a large number of restrictions on behavior which a time could be a challenge to work within.

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

Yes, absolutely. I have some proposals out to go to the Arctic and to Antarctica again.

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

I defined a project that I knew I could complete, but my project expanded immensely.

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

I had no plans to complete a video, but I made a short documentary, I did not have concrete plans to create an audio CD but made one that has been published on the Gruenrekorder label.

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

This was the primary purpose for the trip and makes up a large portion of the resulting work.

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

Before I went I think I did, now I consider it in much more practical terms, what is the project I would like to do and how can I best complete it.

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

I have over 2000 photographs on flickr, many audio interviews and sound recordings as well as sonifications of weather and climate data.  I also have an extensive archive of documents related to South Pole weather research from the past 20 years including emails, memos and data files.  I have not yet figured out what to do with it!

14. How do you use this documentation to create new work?

I created an audio CD that combines soundscape recordings with interviews and sonifications of data and created a short video documentary.

15. Do you think that there are pole aesthetics?

Well, in the past the Polar aesthetics were grounded in romanticism, but today I believe this is changing.  I believe there is a contemporary Polar aesthetic that lies in the intersection of art and science.

16. Which link do you see between the territories you discover and their belonging or not to nations/states?

I think Antarctica has been extensively mapped and there are no undiscovered territories there.  Although no one 'owns' the Antarctic, this could change in the future with he expiration of the Antarctic treaty.  Ownership will likely be based on historical occupation.

17. How do you position your work towards the works of other artists who are also interested in the poles?

Many previous artists who have done work in Antarctica have been interested in creating 'monuments', either temporary or permanent.  I am not interested in this and in fact feel that it is problematic to place objects in the pristine environment.  I am more interested in conveying the experience of being at the Pole to those in other places.