Oona Stern Solo Exhibition

Oona Stern, my compatriot and Artboat Co-Captain at Palmer Station, has a solo exhibition of her Antarctic work up right now at Westchester Community College in New York. If you are in the area, I highly recommend that you go see it!

Also, I'll be speaking about my Antarctic music and doing a short performance at the opening reception next Wednesday...

Oona Stern
the reluctant naturalist

In January 2009 Oona Stern traveled to Palmer Station in Antarctica as a fellow with the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Artists and Writers Program. The study of ice and its structures was the focus of Stern's Antarctic research, and the reluctant naturalist is the first solo exhibition of work based on her residency.

A gallery talk with Oona Stern will be held on Wednesday, February 2, from 11am – 1pm.
Special guest Cheryl E. Leonard, sound artist and composer, will perform music also developed in Antarctica.

WESTCHESTER COMMUNITY COLLEGE FINE ARTS GALLERY • ACADEMIC ARTS BUILDING 3RD FLOOR
75 GRASSLANDS ROAD VALHALLA NEW YORK 10595 • 914.606.6621 • www.sunywcc.edu/gallery


In 2009 I was in Antarctica with the National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Artists and Writers Program. My focus was the study of ice and its structure. I returned with dozens of field drawings and over 4000 photographs. Previously my work had been inspired by architecture, construction and (sub)urban environments, resulting in public installations with a range of materials from decking to advertising posters. Nature appeared with a small “n” - a context for architectural practice, nothing more. Now, with Antarctica as source material, my work has shifted content, and Nature plays a leading role. I find myself examining natural patterns and structures as I did previously in an urban context. In my drawings the plaid-like patterning of glaciers and other ice forms has become an obsessive exploration, and in developing a visual vocabulary of nature’s frozen grids and plaids, I am echoing my earlier architectural iconography. The first sculptural work shows a dramatic shift in scale from room-sized to table-top. It is only with time that projects on a more environmental scale will take shape.

the reluctant naturalist is a survey of these varied practices. Field drawings of the Antarctic Peninsula and Palmer Research Station, collages, table-top icebergs, a room-sized mural all reflect my attempts to translate Antarctica’s richness into my own vocabulary. It is in its early days yet, and the show reflects a process; these assorted pieces are the seeds of work that I will be building on for years to come.

Oona Stern

Harpist Alice Giles Travels to Mawson Base

It's great to learn that another musician is heading to Antarctica. Harpist Alice Giles has received an Australian Antarctic Division Arts Fellowship to travel on the research vessel ‘Aurora’ to Mawson Base in February and March 2011.

Her trip celebrates the Centenary of the 1911-1914 Australasian Antarctic Expedition, which was led by Australian geologist Douglas Mawson (who the base is named after). Alice will be performing and recording music that was written especially for her trip as well as music that was heard in Antarctica 100 years ago. She'll also be recording Antarctic sounds for composers and students to use in compositional projects.

Visit Alice's blog for updates on her project and adventures - http://aliceinantarctica.wordpress.com/

Good luck Alice!

Fraser's Penguins

Dwindling Adélie colonies on Torgersen Island

A new book has recently been released about the plight of the Adélie penguins near Palmer Station: Fraser's Penguins: A Journey to the Future in Antarctica by Fen Montaigne. In 2005 - 2006 the author spent five months at Palmer working as a research assistant to Bill Fraser, who has been studying the area's penguin populations for over 30 years. I just picked up a copy and am hoping to have a chance to read it over the holidays.

Speaking of which, if you are in need of a unique winter holiday gift/stocking stuffer, or simply have an urge to hear penguin gaks and ecstatic display calls, please consider purchasing a copy of my Antarctic field recordings cd, Chattermarks.

Happy holidays!

Live on Radio + Live on Stage

Women Hold Up Half the Sky
KALX 90.7 FM
Saturday, December 4th, 11 am - noon (Pacific Time)

This Saturday I'll be on the radio doing a short live performance, playing recordings of my work and talking about my many musical projects. KALX streams live online at: http://kalx.berkeley.edu/how-listen


Tuesdays at Tom's
Tuesday December 7th, 7:30pm
3111 Deakin Street
Berkeley, CA 94705
$ donation - all proceeds go to the artists

Here is your chance to see my ensemble and I play in the intimate setting of Tom Duff's lovely living room! I can't recommend the series enough. I've heard a lot of great music at Tom's place, plus there is usually an excellent array of free snacks and drinks. Please come join us as A.L. Dentel, Felix Macnee and I perform several of my Antarctic compositions plus some improvisations. Also on the bill is the quartet of Tim Perkis, Tom Djll, Scott Walton and Matt Ingalls, who are all great players and improvisers.

Talk at the Museum of Craft and Design

Next week I'll be speaking at San Francisco's Museum of Craft and Design about my work with sound in Antarctica.

Designing with Sound: Recording Antarctica
Museum of Craft and Design Speaker Series Event

499 Castro Street (at 18th Street)
Wednesday, November 17
6:30 - 8 PM
Free to members of MCD. $10 non-members, $5 students


I will share stories and images from my Antarctic music project, play samples of field recordings from Palmer Station, and demonstrate several of my Antarctic-object instruments.


The presentation will be followed by a visit to the exhibition Transference, a glass and sound installation by Andy Paiko and Ethan Rose.

* My next performance of Antarctic compositions will be Tues, December 7th in Berkeley, CA.

New Penguin Bone Instruments

The Coracoids - Adélie penguin coracoid bones mounted in driftwood and amplified via a contact microphone wedged in the wood. The coracoid is part of the penguin's shoulder girdle and is the pivot upon which its wings turn. I have been bowing the coracoids to produce eerie, howling sounds in my new piece White on White, which evokes the rapid decline of the Adélie colonies near Palmer Station.

The Octobone - is constructed from Adélie penguin femurs and tibias, again mounted in driftwood. The instrument is miked via a hydrophone embedded inside the underside of the wood. We have been playing the Octobone percussively and making sounds that blend with recordings of brash ice melting underwater.

I didn't want to damage the bones in either of these two instruments (if they broke, replacing them would likely take several years and a lot of grant-writing). So, instead of screwing or gluing them into the base, the bones are fitted into holes carved in the wood, and strapped and wedged in place with thick thread and tiny shims. After a few carving mishaps that resulted in minor injuries I discovered work gloves and refined my technique. Now my woodworking should involve less cursing and blood. Yay! More bone instruments coming soon.

Climbing on the Antarctic Peninsula

This past austral summer a French climbing team made a number of ascents of peaks along the Antarctic Peninsula, including a couple of mountains on Smith Island and Brabant Island that I sailed past on my trip.

Read about their expedition here: http://aaj.americanalpineclub.org/climbs-and-expeditions/antarctica/antarctic-peninsula/2009-10-antarctic-peninsula-summary-by-d-gildea/
Extensive photos from their adventures are posted at http://nomansland.project.free.fr/NomanslandProject-Portfolios.htm

And yes, I'm jealous!