Saturday 6th March 2010

Dreaming of the white and

 

Still thinking white - 

Thursday 4th March 2010

 

Arrive early morning at Heathrow - knackered and spaced out. Actually kicked the 

broken plane as I was leaving Madrid.

Made feel better, bloke next to me thought I'd lost my mind - good I say! 

Three men in suits were moaning about their meeting and the fact they would be 2 hours late tomorrow - I just smile and think of other things!

 

Thinking white!

Wednesday 3rd March 2010

 

To the very end difficult!

 

A hotel, a bath, a banana

Calm again before the storm

Unpack military gear - hand back

The warmth of Buenos Aires is in the air(es)

 

Now the game begins again - remember this is South America - I keep forgetting!

 

Dear Werner Dafeldecker arranges the taxi - of which the driver is a lunatic - he cannot drive 

I demand to find the seat belt which has been well and truly tucked away under the rear seat, as this must surely be his first time out in a car! He does not understand the basic concept of lane markings for some reason

 

The airport is a swarming mass of humanity - must partly be the Earthquake in Chile

The queue is 400 people long and expanding

An ugly fat bellied man tries to push in and nobody says anything - I go bonkers at him - 'go to the back of the queue sunshine '- at first he pretends not to speak English

He craftily sticks it out and slips just 6 places back - asshole

 

Now there is engine trouble on my Buenos Aires to Madrid flight which costs me 4 hours and then believe it or not as we were just about to take off at Madrid for London the plane is recalled and escorted by fire engines because of an engine leaking fuel!  So I then wait 2 hours to change planes...oh well! 

 

Tuesday 2nd March 2010

So, up at 6.30am

Military plane repaired and arriving, weather looking ok if not changeable on the day

Pack, walk and go - freezing day - good for landings

62 people Argentine and foreign await in a tight space - breathing the cold air together

Plane lands on the frozen strip after 3 attempts - looks good

We are all happy - but wait the engine (no3) has broken so only 20 people can go! Its the weight

Only foreigners (me a foreigner!)

We fly on 3 engines only (strangely enough not giving a shit) saddened by leaving people behind to face a floor bed, cold and snoring

Landing in Rio Gallegos with the Hercules' 3rd engine being taken to pieces we make a desperate break for the commercial airline terminal

Got a ticket heading south towards Antarctica (Ushuaia) before turning north to Buenos Aires...

Arrive at 2am in BA but worth it! 

Monday 1st March 2010

Interviewed a number of Penguins as potential students for University of Hertfordshire but they just don't seem interested in PhDs. I have a suspicion that they are setting up their own college...shame that...oh well took a photo of them being interviewed anyway. Will publish this new knowledge soon.

Frozen last night, down my left side...near the window. Serious conditions.How do you survive that in a tent? Returning continuously to my artworks in the snow they are slowly disappearing under snow, drift, wind and temperature - metaphor?

Late intense philosophical conversations with scientists. Relationships between art and science,logic and aesthetics.

Spirit, 'throwness', appropriation etc..Junctures and divisions. God and need...

Did not sleep well!

 

 

 

Sunday 28th Feb 2010

Missed and re-booked my flight last week, as there is no chance of escape at present - no plane working here.

Albatross, Adelie Penguins, Leopard Seals, Skua, Whales seen by Werner - Mink type?

Vast place. Big, big storm. Filmed from window 3am. Snow drifts cover the base. even cold inside.

 

 

Saturday 27th Feb 2010

Same old routine, very difficult to explain

On a windy but sunny morning we are given 30 minutes to prepare and pack our belongings

15 minutes later, having packed we are told to stand down again (a?)

Engine trouble - no flight today

Its utter chaos. Waiting for parole ?

Food beginning to make me feel sick - pizza with an egg topping which you have to scrum for on a table in the middle of the dining room

Artists and scientists (from Czech Republic and Spain) are getting depressed...no wonder you have to have a psycho test before you come here. Madness is close to the surface

Australian artist Laurence English getting annoyed - cannot blame him...the other night is was the turn of Werner Dafeldecker (Austrian artist) - my turn to come?

Outside extremely cold but a wonderful sight - extraordinary would not of missed this opportunity

Real wonder of the world  

Have been tracing the history of human involvement with this place Antarctica its pretty sad yet 

intense adventure and resistance to accepted doctrine and the elements. Puts our little lot in our pre-made metal base (built in 1969) into perspective very quickly. 4 years away on a ship. 1 year frozen into the pack ice must have a touch more difficult. 

 


 

 

 

 

 

Thursday 25th February 2010

First get ready, so I pack - we are going 2 hours later -no we are not going.

Yes the weather is bad but Logistics don't exist here - frustrating for everyone. Phones don't work. Food very poor . No breakfast. No coffee. No but no complaining outside -  just to be here is a tremendous experience...perspectives!

Some people are beginning to loose it here!  Words like prison, locked up, captured, etc etc...

Fog all day, cannot see the ice bergs today as they float past.

I remember things like salads, tomatoes, wine, fizzy water, a thing called a vegetable (a radish ?), fruit arrggghh. An apple? do they still exist in the world? Somebody send me one -please...

Wednesday 24th February 2010

Well and truly stuck with the penguins here...

The weather dictates everything. When the plane arrives, we know not. There could be a technical, logistical or weather problem involved - stuck in Antarctica

Play a Blues/Jazz session with Austrian sound artist Werner Dafeldecker,  the soldiers leave the room!

Blizzard arriving....?

Tuesday 23rd February 2010

 

Artworks in the snow long, big and wide, tracked and drawn, frozen and melted

No real internet, no phone reception and public phones that just about operate with coins..

The people are friendly and the pilots are the brightest but madness could break out here at any moment Cabin Fever?

Very cold at night especially at dawn, trying to obtain blankets is very difficult

 

Sunday 21st Feb 2010

 

Snow track to the top of the giant Glacier Buenos Aires - incredible experience on top of a giant white cake - slices are disappeariing

Champagne and lamb for lunch as formal exchanges are made between the Argentine army commanders and the Bolivian crew of the newly arrived ice breaker ship in the bay

No one (except ourselves: artists and scientists) dare leave the table until the Colonel has retired.

Twin Military Helicopters across the frozen sea to Marambia Base: whales, seals, penguin tribes waddling away from the prop sound..

We are flown to the Swedish house (hut) at Snow Hill. Here the Scandinavian expedition were stranded for 2 two years in 1901. They had brought a flat pack cabin with them and dogs. They walked across the frozen sea for help

Marambia is chaos again. Too many people, no where to sleep except the floor in the lecture theatre. But we are getting used to it..

 

Friday 19th Feb 2010

The Leopard Seal stretches out on his one-ton back across the floating ice berg

rolls around and nearly falls off as it wobbles on the water 

don't get too close it will bit your head off

the fat belly suggests a fat penguin inside

 

Actions: my hand was on a penguin but I never touched its chest

Colour: the memory of built up places and people ring heavily in this no space

Cold: regulating things inside and out is near impossible

People: move like apparitions in the snow but very polite 

Stars: on a black night the three kings and southern lights dance in the static

Thursday 18th February 2010

Cold cold day

Even the penguins huddle

No shower, no water, it will come - but when? It has to come from the Glacier - dam it!

Bread at lunch - very unusual.

Up at the Glacier filming and image making..actions

Deep deep fog rolls in - quick move it back to camp. Comes in fast. Cannot see the bay. Hurry.

Following the pipe line - nothing fancy - the waste disposal pipe to the camp

Penguins everywhere - they appear so innocent then they get eaten by the big birds

Wednesday 17th February 2010

Out and making stuff - images - snow print - actions

Windy nights - hut metal roped to the earth

Clear air day - like looking just through the eye without dull stuff in between

Snow snow snow glaciers, water, ship, helicopters, penguins, seals, mountains snow - white

Colours with clarity

Tuesday 16th February 2010

Military helicopter (they move in 2's) to Esperanza base

5 in the back - life jackets on

Over the bergs, channels, mountains, waters, past the Russian ice breaker

Into the wooden cantina like a boat on ice

Hut (house no 12) the old school place

Beautiful beautiful place, on the moon but with water blues to whites and greys

Penguins everywhere

Monday 15th Feb 2010

Have a shower and come out dirtier than I went in

Meat, meat, meat with meat

People and their faces wonderful faces -  portraits - are coming

Sunday 14th Feb 2010

No blanket

Landrover

Icey scenes and Bergs

Clear mist and Helicopters

Art arriving

Saturday 13th Feb 2010

We are off. At last the flight from Rio Gallegos by Hercules to Tierra Del Fuego.

Wait in Patagonia in cloudy weather for the hop to Antarctica.

Speak with the solid faced military pilot who is quite charming.

We go in 1/2 an hour if the cloud lifts, its a mud runway and we have to be able to see it...

The journey is longer than expected. We have to circle to runway three times then in we go..

Research scientist/geologist opposite me is concerned. Hang on to the orange canvass straps. But we land with some length to spare.

Cold, glorious, the moon? no the bottom of our planet - with white out.

Marambio camp is full and over flowing with people...too many stuck here on their way..

We are assigned the gym floor - all men of course - a mixture of army, airforce, scientist and artists...its a scrum but people are courteous with each other - i'll sleep anywhere

Thursday 11th Feb 2010

 Action Stations:  Hercules being prepared, race to it, we go.....get dressed - full kit

Stop go back to the beginning, weather window closed - Stand down

I can't help but swear - ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿

 So we eat, drink and play the guitar singing bad western pop songs and feel low..

Into my bunk on a windless Patagonian night

But you cannot sleep, the dogs outside are screwing, barking and howling all night long

Next morning sat on the runway they are so sincere and cute - please stroke me -

get lost you dirty little bastards !

Wednesday 10th Feb 2010

Stuck in Patagonia - here the weather and not the clock rules your life

Don't get uptight - the content, the subject, the material for the art will arrive soon, its a

gift worth waiting for....cabin fever?

Aston Villa v Man Utd on the tv...they love it here - bizarre, they know the names better than I

Scientists here are certain without doubt of global warming

One Penguin will boil a full litre of water if drained and used for its oil (past idea about survival)

The wind here is like a thousand little devils..

I never realised in my mind that Patagonia could be so flat (landscape)

 

Tuesday 9th Feb 2010

Back again at miltary base B.A. Big Hercules arrives and we board.

Sat with the cargo on canvas straps. Very loud. But smooth and solid.

Up in the cockpit with the pilot and others.Looking towards the southern tip of Argentina

beyond to Antarctica.. Malvinas plastered all over their suits...sad.

They are good friendly people. Maps, dials, windows, lights, numbers, wires and a bed..tight space and no toilet for the flight - 5  hours..

Windy Patagonia..  onto the military camp. An hour later I get arrested and returned to camp for taking photos on the base (of the sky !!) - no problem.

 

Monday 8th Feb 2010

In the heat of the midday sun (not the night) at the military Buenos Aires Argentine Airfield base. Around the edges theres a certain beauty..a wild richness...

Inside, the flies dance and the canteena lady stares into the distance and disappears,

only to reappear with a stale cheese (cheese?) and jambon roll the likes of which has seen many

moons!  She serves it up like a spanner - with a sort of twisting and pulling motion

A scientist trys to pull my leg by saying, you are not allowed to have a photograph taken under the Argentine airfield sign...  not funny..but there it is...

Hercules comes and then Hercules goes - loud comings and goings!

So we go away again. I hear myself say too loudly, so what the hell does this mean?

I don't know - I'm still confused

Answers: try again tomorrow - and oh well thats South America!

Sunday 7th Feb 2010

Who knows?

Argentine time is different to other types of time.....on an on an on...

Trying to understand how to attach things to myself - not very successful..

Not enough tape, not enough space, not enough time, not enough nough - whats nough?

Partition of thoughts suspended in partitions

Buenos Aires weather wakes up at 6pm as if to say lets start the day

Saturday 6th Feb 2010

Early morning fusion between Jazz and Tango music - complex

Powerful female voices: full of passion, drive, sex and energy

But the plastic face lifts are at odds with the human voices

After no sleep - cockroaches run across on the South American hotel breakfast floor - quite fast!

Friday 5th Feb 2010

British Council and British Embassy in Buenos Aires are again informed about my trip to Antarctica with the Argentines by military aircraft.  Instruction training completed.

Mon 1st Feb 2010

London - Madrid - Buenos Aires

Theres a baby in my seat

Video image inside the plane - taken from the tail of the aircraft 

Planes should be made of glass