On the Disappearance of Colour in Snow

From the Memoria Norway Series

SpringerParker

What colour does snow have when the landscape seems to consist of nothing else? How can invisible things be visualised, such as the disappearance of the permafrost? The artist duo SpringerParker places the arctic landscape at the centre of their artistic expeditions. Their material collection and documentation verges on scientific methodology. Back in the studio, the artists transform their impressions into photographic works that present viewers with a visual approach to a complex ecological and social theme: the process of gradual change in the European Arctic. The show presents series from the work complex Memoria Norway. With graphic austerity, the series Permafrost depicts the vibrant nature of ice; in an attempt to represent something that has disappeared, water samples of melted permafrost are refrozen. Snow, mountains, sub-zero temperatures, and the vast expanses of the Arctic are transformed in the artistic process to create a visual concentrate of a unique landscape. These works seem to anticipate the memories our society will have of it in the future.