In July 1897 Swedish balloonist Salomon August Andrée and his companions Knut Frænkel and Nils Strindberg, an amateur photographer, lifted off from Svalbard, Norway in a hydrogen balloon named Örnen (Eagle). The Andrée expedition aimed to fly over the North Pole, cross the Arctic Ocean and land in present day Alaska, Canada, or Russia. However, after traveling some 500 miles in two days the balloon experienced a loss of hydrogen causing it to land on pack ice 300 miles short of the North Pole. Agreeing to walk south to a supply depot the expedition travelled for three months before perishing on the island of Kvitøya, Norway. Strindberg captured their journey photographing 240 frames of film, which were found thirty three years later by researchers studying the area. Of the 240 frames captured 93 were recovered. Using technology similar to the type that Strindberg would have used 113 years ago, I have staged a recreation of one of these photographs, Recreation of “Andrée’s first polar bear,” north of Svalbard, Norway 1897.

The Andrée expedition was the first to travel across the arctic region by air, setting the stage for future arctic air-travel. In 2014 Boeing and SkyHook International are scheduled to launch an airship capable of delivering materials to the Arctic and other remote areas. Today industry and developments are changing the Arctic landscape as access to the region increases. Technologies are now being used to provide more accurate maps, satellite imagery and communication, all of which make it safer to travel in the region. Concept Drawing of Cape Lisburne, Alaska 2014, was created utilizing these technologies to gain knowledge of the area’s topography, vegetation, horizon line, angle of the sun, and structures. The vector drawing depicts a futuristic scenario of Boeing and SkyHook’s planned airship delivering materials to the missile early warning station located at Cape Lisburne, Alaska. The Cape’s landscape holds significance to the Andrée expedition as it would have been the first piece of land the explorers would have reached had they flown a straight path from Svalbard over the North Pole and Arctic Ocean.

Investigating the Arctic region and using the minimal landscape as subject matter was intriguing to me as was the challenge of creating artwork set in an inaccessible place. My curiosity in the changing Arctic landscape along with my interest in transforming technologies was the motivation behind the creation of these artworks. As the setting for both images, the Arctic region acts as a constant, allowing for a study of changes in landscape and technologies to be seen over time. In my research of the Arctic I learned of innovations (both past and future) in airships as a means of Arctic transportation. By using the Andrée expedition and Boeing and SkyHook’s future airship project as inspiration I was able to create a unique link between past and future Arctic explorations. It is this link that provides the narrative within the diptych.

Below: Andrée’s first polar bear, 1897