About

CIRCUMPOLAR– a multi-art form installation bringing together art & science in relation to Antarctica

KEY PERSONNEL

Mary Finsterer – Composer, Director

Dean Golja – Visual Artist, Curator

Tom Wright – Writer

Guy Williams – IMAS Scientist Coordinator

Geraldine Barlow – Creative Consultant

Project Summary:

CIRCUMPOLAR functions as a prism which dissects and reflects on the continent of Antarctica including artistic inspiration, scientific data, storytelling & historical perspective. Lead by composer, Mary Finsterer, specialists from the arts will shape music and visual displays from the research of scientists from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies in Tasmania.

CIRCUMPOLAR will premiere at The Hedberg in Hobart January 2021 in parallel to the opera, ANTARCTICA, an international co-production by leading Dutch chamber orchestra, Asko|Schönberg ensemble and acclaimed resident company of Carriageworks, Sydney Chamber Opera, to be presented at the Theatre Royal following the premiere season at Sydney Festival in 2021.  

A condensed version, CIRCUMPOLAR, will be presented at the launch of The Hedberg in May 2020 and the SCAR symposium in Hobart, August 2020.  

Plans are also underway to present CIRCUMPOLAR abroad.CIRCUMPOLAR is a 25–minute cyclical experience at 5 sites within The Hedberg. The location of each site will respond to the tempo of the architecture and state of the art technologies which include engineered variable acoustics and 360 Immersive Projection. Each site will have a theme, an amalgam of science, history, philosophy and art derived from the research of our team.

THEMES FOR VIDEO & ELECTRO–ACOUSTIC INSTALLATION:

I. THE INSTITUTION: The History and Philosophy of Antarctic Science

II. THE OCEAN: Antarctic Oceanography

III. THE SEA ICE: The Seasonal Cyclical Patterns of Freezing and Melting

IV. THE LAND ICE: The Story the Land Ice Can Tell

V. THE SKY: The Polar Effect on Our Air and Climate 

Screen projections and holographic images designed by artist Dean Golja will interplay to create a network of layering of still and moving images. Scientific findings from a team of IMAS scientists (please find attached the full list of scientist personnel) including raw data, audio/visual material and graphical representation will intersperse with captured moments of scientists on camera. Poetic interpretations of scientific findings from Tom Wright and instrumental responses set in counterpoint to artefact sounds from data discovered through scientific investigation, will enrich the electroacoustic “spatial” sound in the music by composer, Mary Finsterer who will also compose an aria to be performed at the opening of the installation. Geraldine Barlow, Curatorial Manager of International Art at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, QAGOMA, Brisbane, will oversee the creation of the installation as a creative consultant.  Her curatorial expertise on an international level will ensure that all aspects of this multi-art form project will reticulate to shape the five themes that underscore the narrative and framework, the majesty and the mystery of this monumental continent.

CENTREPIECE INSTALLATION SITE – III. THE SEA ICE

A centrepiece installation around which the other four themes will satellite is the third site, THE SEA ICE.  Central to this theme is the Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) whose food source are small plants like phytoplankton, as well as algae under the surface of sea ice.  The average size this tiny creature is only about 5cm in length, but it represents a giant-sized link in the global food chain. ‘These small, shrimp-like crustaceans are essentially the fuel that runs the engine of the Earth’s marine ecosystems’. As such, the krill are the cornerstone to the wildlife that surrounds Antarctica.  With sea ice diminishing, scientists are now looking to what other microfauna will be likely to replace the krill in the food chain, and what the consequence of this change will be for the larger animals (whales, seals, ice fish and penguins) which depend on eating large quantities of krill for survival in the harsh climate.  The magnitude of the importance of the krill will be reflected in the centrepiece installation by way of scale.  It will be larger and more elaborate than the themes represented at the other four installation sites.

The launch of the showcase in May 2020 will include the performance of an aria will be at Site III: THE SEA ICE.  This performance will be the unveiling of one aria from the opera, ANTARCTICA which will be presented by Sydney Chamber Opera and Asko|Schönberg ensemble at Sydney Festival in January 2021 followed by a tour to Tasmania .  

The title of the aria is A GALAXY BENEATH ME.  It tells of the girl who sits alone, listening to the sea. She hears the billions of creatures, the krill and the salp, surge like a galaxy beneath her. 

The aria comprises female voice, viola d'amore, harp and electronics. During the writing of the aria, the composer will work closely with the instrumentalists, recording of musical fragments that will be woven into the electronic music of the  installation.