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

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