At Jökulsárlón in Iceland, the great glacier Breiðamerkurjökull is spectacularly melting into the sea at an ever-increasing rate as the climate warms. Tourists are guided to the spectacle in a system the locals call ‘Tourist Conveyor Belt’. ‘Ís’ (Icelandic for ‘ice’) is a meditation on how even the most well-meaning human activity (such as eco-tourism, documentary-making and art production) can adversely impact on nature. The soundtrack is a reminder that this nature is not a benign entity outside ourselves to observe and cosset.
This work was exhibited at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery from February to May 2016 as part of New Art West Midlands 2016. A still image from the video was chosen as the cover of the exhibition catalogue and the leaflet unfolded into an A3 poster of the same image.
In June 2016 ‘Ís’ moved to QUAD in Derby as part of East Meets West 2, where it was shown until September 2016 alongside Doug Fishbone’s ‘Leisure Land Golf’.