“Rise of the Tidal Island/ Ice Queens” by Andrea G Artz
Rice of Island Queens
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- Rise of the Tidal Island/ Ice Queens
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The VR experience was inspired by an ancient Greek myth and a series of self – portraits that the artist took at age 50. The project developed during a digital residency for Mozilla hubs with Agora Digital Art, a London based organization that advocates the work of women and non-binary artists. The work weaves together surreal CGI imagery inspired by the myth of Aphrodite’s violent birth; how the goddess was born a grown woman, and an audio piece that is a virtual continuation of Frigga Hauge’s “memory work” and built upon the oral reflections of middle-aged women.
“Some of you may recall the myth of Aphrodite’s violent birth; how the goddess of Love and Fertility was born a grown woman shaped form the white foam of the sea. Adding narrative from the surrealist artist Ithell Colquhoun with her vision of divine femininity, in which the woman becomes a landscape and merges with Earth – an entity alive inhabited by spirits… In this metaphor, the project question’s themes related to mature women such as ageism, body confidence, and criticism of the eternal youthful representation of the female body. The clash between the two players: the body and the mind.” (MiMi, Agora Digital Art, 2022).
In 2022, I answered a residency call to develop and adapt my XR project “Rise of the Tidal Island Queens” to the stories and landscapes of Lapland, Sweden. The project is an ever evolving, site-specific work that dynamically adapts to each environment it inhabits, and during my residency at Moskosel Creative Lab/ Northern Sustainable Futures it developed into the VR work “Rise of the Ice Queens.”
During my stay, I visited the Ajtte Museum in Jokkmokk to research Sami traditions, 3d scanned the Northern environments and recorded 360 videos of Aurora to build the virtual world for the Island Queens covered in ice and snow and skies illuminated by Aurora.
I was particularly curious about the role of women in Sami culture and read Ann – Helen Laestadius’s book Stolen, where she portrays a woman’s struggle to defend her heritage in a world where climate change looms and the tensions that arise when modern ideas come up against traditional culture.
In the VR experience visitors witness and can take part in a ritual performed by the “Ice Queens” under the skies of Aurora, and accompanied by a sound design of fellow artist in residence and experimental musician Christoph Zeckel. They can further interact with 3 floating spheres and experience the original Island Queens and listen to the quotes of middle aged women how they feel in body and mind (sound design Isa Suarez).
