ice algae

~artist’s reflection~

How did this work come to be? Once I learnt that microorganisms also exist in sea ice I set out to know about their lifestyle. There is still so much unknown about them and there is little recorded on the internet. I travelled north by train to the Arctic Centre in Rovaniemi to read the book Sea Ice Biota by Rita Horne. For four days I sat reading in this lovely little library. I learnt so much about ice algae and to share this knowledge I chose to use the imagination. It has been observed that people and nature have drifted further apart, and the consequences have been serious. The human imagination can bring nature and people closer together again. 

My dream is to have my artworks compostable. Once they have had their lifetime, I could put them in the compost of my future garden, which is also still a dream. Compost is amazing. I would spread the compost around my garden and from the plants that would grow, I would make more art. This art would then be composted and a beautiful cycle would be complete. Finding the right material was tricky. The images are of the experiments.  

The human imagination is used in a way to bring humans and nature closer together. In the Guided Visualisation, the listener becomes an ice algae themselves and experiences various happenings of the life of an algae. For example how it feels to have a small and see-through body, the events of each season and what happens when the sea ice melts. By learning about the lives of other beings we can become closer to them and feel less othered. In this way, understanding and care for the whole planet can be made.

studio mokii, Ice core with an algal layer, compostible biomaterial, 20 x 10 x 4 cm, finland, 2024
studio mokii, Guided Visualisation, sound, 8 minutes, finland, 2024