Artist Statement Continental Drift: Iceland/California is structured around the geological boundary of the North Atlantic Continental Plate, and the workdocuments the shifting edges of the North Atlantic Plate: the eastern boundary in Iceland where it meets the Eurasian Plate and the San Andres Fault in California, along the Pacific Plate. I am interested most broadly in the concepts of persistence and change, and in the way that boundaries demarcate difference. The work grew out of my interest in the concept of wildness, and in landscapes that resisted containment. Wildness is often perceived as an equivalent to the unknown; to me it also signifies mystery and wonder. I was particularly interested in the fact that this geological boundary has no political allegiance, was not determined by wars, by financial interest, or national demarcation. It is a boundary that cannot be controlled or contained by human intervention; rather, forces deep in the earth determine it.
In Iceland, the North American Plate is moving westward, creating new crust as magma pushes up from the mantle. Geologically, this place marks a divergent boundary, characterized by splitting earth, steaming hot water and a young lava landscape almost devoid of trees. The land is unstable and raw. Geodesic domes and geothermal greenhouses dot the countryside, structures of the built environment created to hold the thermodynamic forces for heat and electricity. Odd-looking pieces of hardware and pipe sprinkled upon the land are the remnants and working machinery used to harness steam spewing from the earth for geothermal power.
In California, the Pacific plate is sliding north relative to the North American plate, which means that eventually, in many millions of years, Los Angeles will be where San Francisco is now. While this transformative plate boundary is characterized by earthquake activity, it lacks the spectacular drama of a divergent boundary such as what is found in Iceland. The landscape is often mundane, striking in its ordinariness. The monotone housing developments built on top of the fault seem to deny the existence of the unstable earth below the surface. The ordered built environment ignores the actuality of the land, a dangerous disconnect.
Continental Drift: Iceland/California portrays moments of quiet anticipation in settings that shift between the wild and the contained, the fertile and the barren, the geologic and the human. The exhibition will include 32”x40” chromogenic color prints that document the two edges of the continental plate in Iceland and California. The contrasting juxtaposition will create a visual tension, prompting questions and dialogue pertaining to the uneasy relationship between geologic force and the limits of human intervention.
Captions
Marion Belanger, Viking, on the glacier Breidamerkurjokull, which makes up part of Vatnajokull, Europe’s largest icecap., 2006, chromagenic color print, 32”x40”
Marion Belanger, Thermophilic bacteria and algae on Stigagil, a gully in the slopes of Mt. Reykjafjall, Hveragerdi., 2006, chromagenic color print, 32”x40”
Marion Belanger, Iceberg on the shore where the Jokulsarlon Glacier River Lagoon enters the sea., 2006, chromagenic color print, 32”x40”
Marion Belanger, Roadside steam vent with pipes and valves, Route 1 north of Reykjavik., 2006, chromagenic color print, 32”x40”
Marion Belanger, Geodesic dome, Nesjavellir Thermal Power Station., 2006, chromagenic color print, 32”x40”
Marion Belanger, Excavation site on the island of Heimaey where a fissure opened on January 23, 1973 and hot molten lava buried approximately 360 houses and damaged many others., 2006, chromagenic color print, 32”x40”
Marion Belanger, Excavation site on the island of Heimaey where a fissure opened on January 23, 1973 and hot molten lava buried approximately 360 houses and damaged many others., 2006, chromagenic color print, 32”x40”
Marion Belanger, Pipes carry hot steam for heating utilization, Hveragerdi., 2006, chromagenic color print, 32”x40”
Marion Belanger, Newly planted trees, Landbrot pseudocrator field. Iceland is a barren country with only one fourth of the country covered in vegetation. An interest in soil reclamation and forestation is evident by the many young trees planted in the countryside., 2006, chromagenic color print, 32”x40”
Marion Belanger, Children climb on Almannagja, the rift wall at the edge of the North American Continental Plate, 2006, chromagenic color print, 32”x40”
