‘Studied, monitored, photographed and now draped, the Rhône Glacier (Switzerland) is presented as a quasi-artifact, a quantifiable object of study whose sublime aura is now overshadowed by the vertiginous reality that it

is disappearing. One section of its ablation zone (the lower portion of the glacier, which is the most subject to melt) has been covered with geotextiles to reflect the sun’s rays and ward off further acceleration of the glacier’s demise. The video entitled Albedo sensitively documents the futility of this gesture, which in itself becomes something of a prolepsis signalling the further shrinking of the glacier. The images captured by Dufresne and Laganière plunge us into the glacier’s deep time, now ruptured by the accelerated pace of melting and the steady sound of flowing melt water. The field work and activities of a team of researchers from the glaciology laboratory of ETH Zurich working to produce data sets are documented alongside the technical equipment used to support their research. These images are accompanied by a scientific explanation of 

the concept of albedo—the unit of measurement for a given surface’s capacity to reflect solar radiation—and of the feedback loops, initiated by climate change, that are upsetting the equilibrium of glaciation. Since glaciers form an important part of the cryosphere (a term for water reserves held in a solid state on the Earth’s surface), major geopolitical issues emerge when they vanish.’ 

 

- Excerpts from Gentiane Bélanger’s essay for the Radiant Mountain exhibition, Foreman Art Gallery of Bishop’s University.