Off to Antarctica

Ronnie van Hout has been announced as one of the two recipients of the 2007/08 'Artists To Antarctica' fellowship (along with author Tessa Duder).

Van Hout will be off to the frozen continent in October or November this year. He says:

"Antarctica as a frontier fascinates me. It is one of the areas of our earth that resembles most closely an alien environment. The alien is a strong feature of my art, and I was interested to see how many early depictions of Antarctica have an alien presence at their heart. My aim is to examine the human in an extreme alien environment."

Image: Cinematographer Captain James Francis Hurley alongside the Endurance , on Shackleton's 1914-1917 expedition to Antartica. Photographic Archive, Alexander Turnbull Library. Reference number: 1/2-098619-F. http://timeframes.natlib.govt.nz.