PROJECT
Antarctica: form at the end of the world
A study of the vast and brilliantly austere Antarctic landscape.
Despite exerting mostly invisible influence on humankind, Antarctica resides with curious prominence in the imaginations of many. But as far as it’s understood to be an actual geographic location, it’s also commonly regarded as something like an ecological concept—one concocted of loose factoids, cultural references, and, increasingly, environmental concerns. Over a century of scientific recording has barely diminished (if it hasn’t actually accentuated) the mythological reputation of the South Pole, and it remains to this day as distant and mysterious as to be another planet altogether, and for good reason; unlike any other known place on earth, Antarctica is a singular theater of astounding natural forces.
When confronted by this immense spectacle it’s nearly impossible to avoid referencing some manner of divine power, and such invocations are common in the testimonies of history’s most celebrated explorers; however, language and its capacity for lyricism aside, conveying a visual impression of Antarctica’s vast and ethereal frictions presents distinct challenges—thankfully, the camera is not without a knack for the surreal.
Through abstractions of scale, compressions of space, and a romantic narrowing of light, an image of recollection is negotiable, an image not exactly of how the place appeared to the eye, but how its appearance seemed to flex and bare its teeth at the spirit. An accurate misrepresentation in celebration of how our ancient fictions—inspiring and terrible—drape exclusively from the shoulders of the elemental world.
The collection contains 42 photographs.
Editions 1/5, 1/10
MEDIUM Pigment Photographic Prints
The panoramic vision of the Form at the End of the World series is encapsulated in this limited-edition portfolio, offering collectors a stirring and unique record of the ever-evolving Antarctic landscape.
The edition is limited to 25 copies and includes 10 signed and numbered fibre-based pigment prints curated by the artist. The photographs are presented together in an elegant, cloth-covered Museum Drop Front Box designed by Tihany; each is handcrafted and provides convenient access to view and handle the artwork.
“I feel the cinematic quality of a location undergoing steady, minute-to-minute transformation requires a sequence of images to convey, if only fractionally, that encompassing condition of transience. The “personality” of Antarctica, the space, is amazingly dynamic and even blunt, in many respects ... with this collection of pictures that physicality and immense morphic energy begins to come into view, but not at the exclusion of an intimate, quiet moment with the subject—albeit, as quiet as having Atlas sit for a portrait!” (Tihany)
PORTFOLIO DETAILS
Edition of 25 and 3 Artist’s Proofs
Photograph size: 17" x 22" (43cm x 56cm)
Portfolio size: 18.375" x 23.5" x 1.75” (46.7cm x 59.7 cm x4.5 cm)
The photographs are individually separated and protected by unbuffered, neutral pH Glassine paper, and the Museum Box is crafted from acid and lignin-free conservation materials, providing archival storage at gallery and museum standards.
Each photograph is printed, signed, and numbered by Bram Tihany.
$6,250
