Similar but Different #18: Cold as Ice

by Margaret Meehan June 8, 2011

Officially the first day of summer is not until June 21st, but according to my thermostat and our electric bill it’s already too hot. Similar but Different #18: Cold as Ice is a wish list for an Arctic chill and freezing ice. I’ll start with a few Texas references and then throw in some notables to round down your internal temperature.

First the “Texans” and some Texas institutions:

Erick Swenson’s Untitled from 2004 at James Cohan Gallery. Detail above and installation below.

Eric Zimmerman’s Atlas #13 Spirit Over Matter (For Thomas) 2008.

And because stratus clouds that become dark turn into Nimbostratus clouds that can produce rain, sleet or snow, Tom Lauerman‘s Nimbostratus, 2006 porcelain.

Amy Revier‘s collage from the series A Quiet Root May Know How to Holler is another type of cloud.

Ed Ruscha’s  Ice Princess can be seen at The Modern Art Museum of  Fort Worth.

Ben Ruggiero‘s work from the series After Icebergs With a Painter which was at Testsite in 2010.

Fredric Edwin Church’s The Icebergs (1861) which is part of the permanent collection at the DMA in Dallas. This is the painting Ruggiero references in his work.

Barnaby Hosking’s Snow Painting Once Removed.  2005. Silent video projected onto black canvas, acrylic painting on black canvas and Black Mirror. Installation view is above and video still detail below.

Pieter Brueghel the Elder’s Hunters in the Snow. 1565.

and should you find some time to read Tobias Wolff’s short story Hunter’s in the Snow, it’s based on the above painting and is equally chilling.

Sigrid Sandstrom’s ‘Utan titel’, akryl på pannå. 2007.

Below are two ice filled examples from an artist who is a personal favorite of mine, Pierre Huyghe.

L’Expédition Scintillante, 2002 above and Huyghe’s A Journey That Wasn’t– film still below.

And now for a few cinematic references:

Dr Zhivago, 1965 film still above. Click here for a below zero film clip. And the opening credits to I am Love below.

I hope all of this has given you a full on brain freeze, visual ice cream headache, or at least a  lovely daydream of iciness as you sit within your air conditioned cubicle forgetting the full wrath of the Texas summer sun. To off set any chill that may have become too much within your imagination I’ll end with a reason or two to be happy for the upcoming summer days.

and from the Learning to Love You More Miranda July/ Harrell Fletcher project:

Assignment #70: Say goodbye.
Silvana Felix – Toronto, Ontario CANADA

Goodbye winter
Goodbye to perpetual darkness outside
Goodbye to driving in snow, sleet, freezing rain, black ice or anything else remotely slick
Goodbye to scraping ice and cleaning snow off of my car
Goodbye to walking on slippery or unshoveled sidewalks
Goodbye dirty, ugly snow and slush (seriously, the only pretty snow is freshly fallen snow)
Goodbye to having to leave my warm bed to face the ugly cold every morning
Goodbye to layering clothes and puffy jackets (so NOT chic!)
Goodbye dry, itchy, chaffed skin
Goodbye chapped lips
Goodbye flu season
Goodbye to having to wear gloves all the time
Goodbye to having my toes trapped under thick socks and boots, and forgetting what my toes look like
Goodbye frozen ears, frozen toes, frozen nose, frozen fingers
Goodbye to having nothing to do since I’m not into winter sports
Goodbye to the long, gloomy faces of people, looking down at the ground or at their feet
Goodbye to having to walk quickly from my car to the store in blowing snow, all the while trying to avoid falling on my ass
Goodbye to cancelled or delayed flights due to snowstorms or blizzards
Goodbye to almost 6 months of unbearable, dreary, freezing temperatures
Goodbye windchill factors in the -30s Celsius
Goodbye winter
I won’t miss you

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