ARCTIC LANDSCAPE I-IV, 2024
Postcards

I produced this work in the frame of my fellowship at RIFS Forschungsinstitut für Nachhaltigkeit | am GFZ in Potsdam (2023/24) when I explored how stereotyped depictions of the Arctic, long entangled with colonial interests, persist and still echo in today’s contemporary visual culture.

The landscapes depicted on the postcards were assembled from some of the most popular Arctic motifs found in a major image database. The most frequently used images from these collections tend to portray stereotypical vast, pristine landscapes of snow and ice. When people are included, they are typically represented as tourists or scientists, motifs featuring locals are rare, and when they are shown, it is often in stereotypical situations.

[Swaantje Güntzel, ARCTIC LANDSCAPE I–IV, 2024, postcards (10,5 x 14,8 cm), postcard racks, variable dimensions]

Foto installation view: Tobias Hübel

#art #conceptualart #kunst #konzeptkunst #contemporaryart #zeitgenössischekunst #fellowship #rifs #potsdam #arktis #arctic #postcard #postkarte #landschaft #landscape #stereotypes #imagedatabank #bilddatenbank #stereotype #schnee #snow #eis #ice #eislandschaft #schneelandschaft #artfellow #tourismus #turism #arcticturism #darkturism

Eisbär / Diamond Painting

Picture of a polar bear in a zoo enclosure, prepared as a diamond painting design. The image was created using the DALL.E 2 AI and the search term ‘polar bear’. The AI responded to the search by generating images of polar bears in captivity and not a single image of one in the wild (the search was performed on June 17th, 2024).

The work was realized in the frame of my fellowhip at Research Institute for Sustainability I at GFZ (RIFS) Potsdam where I worked on the representation and reception of the Arctic in images.

[Swaantje Güntzel, Eisbär / Diamond Painting, 2024, various plastics, 38.3 × 38.3 cm (frame)]

Foto: Tobias Hübel

#art #conceptualart #contemporaryart #polarbear #eisbär #konzeptkunst #kunst #zeitgenössischekunst #diamondpainting #ai #ki #dalle2 #zoo #tobiashübel #rifs #forschungsinstitutfürnachhaltigkeit #researchinstituteforsustainability #potsdam #fellowship #artfellow #kunstfellow #zooarchitektur

Giving the Arctic back its ice
"On November 18, 2023, I filled an ice cube machine with meltwater from the North Pole and returned the cubes to the Arctic Ocean (Båtsfjord, Northern Norway)."

The project was realized during the artists fellowship at the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) Potsdam 2023/24, where she spent a year exploring the representation of the Arctic. The meltwater was provided to her by the journalist and author Birgit Lutz. Her journey was exclusively by public transportation, such as train, bus and ferry, with the exclusion of airplanes and cruise ships. The ice cube machine was powered by a solar battery (charged in advance with Westphalian sunlight)."

Fotos: Jan Philip Scheibe

[Swaantje Güntzel, NORD / Eiswürfel I, 2023, Intervention Båtsfjord, Norway]

#art #contemporaryart #conceptualart #kunst #konzeptkunst #zeitgenössischekunst #photography #fotografie #performanceart #performance #intervention #arctic #arktis #eismeer #barentsea #icecubes #eiswürfel #nord #north #båtsfjord #finnmark #norwegen #norway #birgitlutz #rifspotsdam #fellowship #artfellow #potsdam #slowtravel #womensart #womenartist #bluedress #climatecrisis #climatechange #klimakrise #klimawandel #swaantjeguentzel @swaantjegüntzel #janphilipscheibe #bus #train #ferry #winter #snow #fjord #northpole #nordpol #meltingwater #schmelzwasser #arcticocean #solarpower #solarpowered