Anne Brodie
United Kingdom
Antarctica, a Choice ?
Rothera Collection, 2007
40 glass vessels, mixed media contents
What does Antarctica mean to you ?
The artist asked this question to the inhabitants of the British Antarctic Base of Rothera and invited them to, anonymously, fill small glass collection jars with whatever they felt best represented their identity and feelings in Antarctica.
Those glass bottles, looking like a collection of scientific samples, express what «inhabiting» means for each human being and the everyday life of a place, or a territory, usually perceived as extra-ordinary.
Anne Brodie writes: Antarctica has never had an indigenous human population; we really aren’t supposed to be there at all. [...] The temporary inhabitants of the Antarctic Peninsula returned them filled with a hugely imaginative range of substances ranging from skidoo chain links, blood and pornography. A different kind of data collection.
Biography
With a first degree in Biology, an MA in Ceramics and Glass from the Royal College of Art, and working now predominately in film and photography, Anne Brodie refuses to be categorized. Being selected for the British Antarctic Survey / Arts Council Fellowship was an important landmark in her working practice and continues to inform her current Wellcome Trust funded project utilizing bioluminescent bacteria.