Geopolitics on the Edge
Michael John Whelan, Carapace 1, 2016, silver gelatin print [all images courtesy of the artist]
In this dossier, Stephanie Bailey compiles a collection of abstractions related to Svalbard, Norway. These projects form a phenomenological study of this contested place and the politics surrounding it. This dossier brings together artists who have visited the islands and produced work there, including: Cédric Maridet, Ieva Epnere, Michael John Whelan, and Bahar Yürükoglu. In addition, three contributions were made during the 2016 conference “Thinking at the Edge of the World:” a poem by Sami artist and activist Synnøve Persen; a series of images taken from the family archive of musician Aggie Peterson, annotated in collaboration with artist Petra Hermanová; and the photographs that accompany Bailey’s Introduction, from Santiago Sierra's Black Flag project, for which the artist planted the anarchist symbol on both the North and South Poles.
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