In 2004, whilst participating in a Cape Farewell Arctic expedition, artist Alex Hartley discovered Nyskjæret, an island in the Norwegian High Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. The island had been revealed from within the melting ice of a retreating glacier and Alex was the first human to stand on it.
The island, about the size of a football pitch, consists of rubble and moraine around a small amount of bedrock. It is constantly melting, and the surface eroded and dispersed into the sea. As part of London 2012’s Cultural Olympiad, Alex will tour a scaled version of Nyskjæret along the ports and harbours of the South West coast, moving one landscape through another.
This epic journey will begin in June 2012. At the end of its journey, the island material will be returned to Svalbard and made whole again.
See the shortlisted entries for this region and read about the judging panel
Alex works primarily with photography, often incorporating it into sculpture and installation. Over 20 years, his work has explored attitudes toward built and natural environments. He has exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh (2007), Natural History Museum (2006), Distrito Cuatro, Madrid (2003), The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan (2001) and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark (2000) and is represented by Victoria Miro Gallery. Alex lives in Dorset