{"id":3473,"date":"2017-01-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging-artsnb.weavercrawford.com\/julie-forgues\/"},"modified":"2020-06-09T16:03:52","modified_gmt":"2020-06-09T16:03:52","slug":"julie-forgues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsnb.ca\/web\/2017\/01\/julie-forgues\/","title":{"rendered":"in-between a circle and a vessel: Arctic Residency Program – Julie Forgues"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

It has always been a dream of mine to visit the \u201cend of the world\u201d, where frigid temperatures lift the spirits into a hue of vapors, in the faraway land of the North, where ice is larger than buildings, where the view has no end. This expedition, the great voyage, took place in June 2015 in the archipelago of Svalbard as part of The Arctic Residency Program along with 26 other artists.<\/p>\n

\"Julie<\/a>
Julie Forgues, [work in progress] in-between a circle and a vessel \u2013 landing III-I, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I gear up for the occasion and Baffin\u00a9 sponsors me for a pair of warm arctic boots. As the date gets closer, I realize more and more that I\u2019m going to the Arctic, and will be on a sailboat for the entire residency, a type of transportation that I have never been on for more than a couple of hours. Nervous, anxious, excited, this residency is just unreal!<\/p>\n

I head to Longyearbyen, Norway and upon arrival at the city\u2019s airport, (which is quite small for the most northern city in the world), I meet several fellow residents as we all are easily spotted in the crowd of locals. The day before our departure, Sarah, the top guide, a Belgium artist, presents the rules of being at sea in the Arctic and talks dearly of our great lady: the Antigua \u2013 the vessel that we finally get to meet on June 13th<\/sup>. We are all jittery with anticipation. We step onto this lovely creature that will become our home during the days to come. After the introductions of the Captain, his mates, the crew, (German and Dutch), we finally float away. We all are in awe of the beauty of what surrounds us! The water is calm as the Antigua cuts its way through it. Then we all meet in the \u201ccommon\/dining room\u201d. As Sarah presents the three other \u201cguards\u201d, Sally, Kristin and Mari-Kristin, she explains that when landing, they go out first as danger might be lurking around: danger being polar bears! Once they have identified that no danger is lurking, they will form a triangle that we cannot exit in any circumstance. And then it hits me, Sarah has just defined my work!<\/p>\n

When applying for this residency, I had proposed to explore different layers of my ongoing research in the understanding of in-between<\/em>s: expanding the meaning of \u201cspaces\u201d and \u201cplaces\u201d by the means of photography in an artistic context. By the end of the expedition, my plan was to alter \u201cspaces\u201d into \u201cplaces\u201d by their cultural and artistic re\/construction in the arctic. But questions should be answered such as: how does one create a place in the arctic where no one lives? Is it possible to create places that physically exist for only a few hours, or even minutes? Sarah had just answered these questions in the very first few moments of the expedition: By forming a triangle, the guards were forming our place where we would all work individually \u201ccreating\u201d something \u201cculturally valuable\u201d: art.<\/p>\n

That first day, as we are sailing well into the night, we all stay on deck very late, as if not to miss a single drop of this glacial water that looks so unforgiving and so friendly at the same time. Night comes but does not fall, as we are nearing summer solstice. This is partly why we are having so much difficulty going into our rooms to sleep, as when it is light all day long, everything can be seen 24h a day \u2026nothing is hidden by darkness! I finally succumb, and let myself be rocked to sleep by the movement of the boat till morning arrives and we experience our first landing.<\/p>\n

\"[work<\/a>
Julie Forgues, [work in progress] in-between a circle and a vessel \u2013 landing VI, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once on land, the perimeter is formed and off we go conducting our own creative processes for a period of 2 to 3 hours. It is quite interesting to see everyone pushing forth in this new type of environment with his\/her own eyes, thoughts, equipment. I, for my part, start walking towards Kristin, one of the guards. We\u2019ll come to notice that each guide, like us, has her own way of living\/knowing\/practicing in the land. As I come closer to her, another part of my work comes to life: these women, these strong women, are an integral part of our \u201cplace\u201d within this arctic sphere. I immediately choose to capture every one of them seen from the back as they look toward the land every time we do our \u201clanding\u201d.<\/p>\n

Therefore, this very first image defines the last key element of my work.<\/p>\n

This work, where process meets practice and practice meets process is defined as so:<\/p>\n