THE
PARADOX
SPECTRUM
Great Sand Dunes
PROJECT SUMMARY
Using infrared landscape photography “The Paradox Spectrum” is an artistic investigation into the ways in which infrared light is paradoxically involved, through human influence, with Climate Change. This project endeavors to inspire individual creative responses to Climate Change through contemplation and education. In addition to photography, this project includes a collection of ambient sounds and voice recordings, as well as music created through biometric data sourced from the landscape. The goal is to create a body of audio soundscapes, large format prints, and educational material to be displayed in educational pop-ups, visiting artist lectures, libraries, galleries, and educational institutions.
PROJECT STATUS
After successful trips during the winter 2023 to Svalbard, Norway to attend the Spitsbergen Artist Residency and South Greenland, the project will continue in North America. Currently photographs created from Svalbard are now being printed at The Bakery Photographic Collective in Portland, Maine in preparation for the exhibition. In April 2024 the project heads to Vancouver Island to attend the “a Position on Retreat” Artist Residency. The journey west from the east coast will visit such location as:
Shenandoah National Park (NP)
Current River
Tallgrass Prairie NP
Great Sand Dunes NP
Yampa River
Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve
Gates of The Arctic NP
Future hopeful locations include:
Auyuittuq NP
Antarctica
Banff NP
Bay of Fundy
Glacier NP
Redwoods NP
Zion NP
And More!
SELECT 2024 PROJECT IMAGERY
SELECT 2023 PROJECT IMAGERY
MUSIC CREATED FROM
EARTH’S BIOMETRIC DATA
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Infrared light is a vital factor in facilitating life and determining our climate by the process known as the Greenhouse Effect. Concerning this matter, celebrated scientist Professor Carl Sagan addressed the question of what determines the Earth’s climate in his 1985 Congressional testimony below:
“Not all the light that arrives at the Earth from the Sun goes to heating the Earth. Some of it is reflected back. What the Earth radiates into space is in the infrared part of the spectrum. If you add infrared absorbing gases (such as CO2) to a planet, then what happens is the sunlight comes in as before. But when the surface tries to radiate the space in the infrared, it is blocked. And so, the surface temperature has to rise so that there is an equilibrium between what comes in and what goes out.”
The solution to this dilemma requires perspectives that reflect and act from the mysterious bond that exists between the spiritual and material nature of existence. With this understanding, “The Paradox Spectrum” utilizes infrared photography (NIR, SWIR) to capture the landscape of Nature’s spiritual and material unity. Not only does this provide a photographic means of inspiring imagination in relation to climate and Climate Change; it invites the observer into a deeper contemplation concerning the documented present moment, it’s inference for the potential future, and our place in it.
SPONSORED BY
SUPPORT
THIS PROJECT
Please consider purchasing a print or making a direct donation to support the next steps in this project. Funds will be used for covering the cost of purchasing carbon offset equipment, as well as printing the imagery collected. Purchase and donations of over $300 will receive an 8x10 print from the 2024 expeditions.
INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT
Support for this project is provided by the American Rescue Plan Maine Project Grants, a subgranting program administered by SPACE Gallery for the National Endowment for the Arts
Jim Buckly
Zeus Illios
Kristin Lash
Jocelyn Leighton
Chris Loughran
Todd Megrath
Caroline & Terry Merrill
INDIVIDUAL SUPPORTERS
James McLay
Jessica & Ryan Richards
Rebecca Roberts
Daniel Stephens
David Sywalski
Wolfe Editions
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT
