Abstract

This article explores the ephemeral and entropic properties of melting ice as a means of experimental image production and the impact of ambient data on image-making processes. With reference to studio-based research and examples of fieldwork, the article examines how natural phenomena can be apprehended and represented through unique image making methods and how these can be translated into aesthetic experience. The article discusses first how the transient and contingent qualities of ice can be employed in the process of making images on paper. Secondly, the article asks “What if environmental and ambient data could be a part of the actual image production?” This illustrated article demonstrates a case study, conducted on location, examining how creating images with fragments of ice from lakes can allow for the actual landscape to become physically an integral part of the image in a literal sense. Contrary to the traditional “mirror of reality” pictorial conventions of the landscape, the article examines the ability of ice-made images to capture the fragments of the landscape within the work. Through an investigation of irreversible and spontaneous change of melting ice and pigments applied to paper and observation of the relationships between different forms and systems, the article aims to draw our attention to the way we consider the role of the environment in image construction. It also seeks to advance existing approaches within image media through the development of methodological, conceptual and aesthetic contributions to the environmental concerns of contemporary image making production.