{The good ship Endurance, photo from Shackleton's Antarctica expedition 1914-1916}
1. Listening to the seals through the ice: clip from Werner Herzog's Encounters at the End of the World
2. artist Aleksandra Mir travelled with artist Pierre Huyghe to Antarctica and spent 7 weeks on a ship where she made daily drawings, sketchbook here
1. Listening to the seals through the ice: clip from Werner Herzog's Encounters at the End of the World
2. artist Aleksandra Mir travelled with artist Pierre Huyghe to Antarctica and spent 7 weeks on a ship where she made daily drawings, sketchbook here
Wow what a great film of will and perseverance this expedition would make! The ship enclaved in ice alone is a symbol for the desire of man to conquest the unknown parts of the world and this drive eventually led man to reach the great mysterious continent of Antarctica. The ship is but a tale, much like the Herzog film "Encounters at the End of the World" that shows how man continues to research and study this ever great continent.
ReplyDeleteWhen Judit Hersko came to talk to our class, it was interesting, but I never once thought "Gee, I should check out Antarctica". With this film, however, seeing the sort of interesting characters that 'drop off the grid' into this vast and unknown territory, it suddenly became somewhat appealing. Granted, I still doubt such a trip will happen, but at least Herzog gave me a reason (or 10) to be intrigued with a desolate freezing place where the sun is either always shining or always gone--not what I'd consider paradise. Anyway, beautiful visuals, intriguing thoughts, and a fantastic movie.
ReplyDeleteThe footage in Encounters at the End of the World was really beautiful. I thought the most intriguing part of the film was the mysterious noises of the seals under the ice. I found this article about the seal sounds as well as the sound of whales under the ice which I would liked to have heard in the film (http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/under-the-ice-sounds-of-spring/). I thought the film did a really nice job exploring how film and science go hand in hand and that they are both really a part of an exploration of the world.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that link Ashley. I too found the seal sounds to be one of the more interesting parts of the film. This film has a frankness to it that I haven't seen in other documentaries. It makes the film fell more scientific to the point where the camera becomes his instrument. One thing I found distracting and annoying, however, was the music (especially in the underwater scenes). I feel that the sounds native to that environment were beautiful enough... We don't need to be told the shots are great by the music, we can see for ourselves. But the suicidal/deranged penguins.... That was a nice touch...
ReplyDelete