Nomadic Landmass

Ilana Halperin

Ilana Halperin
Nomadic Landmass (Eldfell) V - 2005
Graphite on paper
50 x 70 cm

In 1973 a massive volcanic eruption on Heimaey, an island lying just off the southern coast of Iceland, led to the formation of a new landmass: an ash cone which was named Eldfell. Thirty years later in October 2003, Ilana Halperin travelled to Heimaey to celebrate both her own and Eldlfell's thirtieth birthday.

Iceland lies on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the meeting point between the North American tectonic plate and the Eurasian tectonic plate. Halperin has long been interested in exploring the relationship between geology and daily life, using it as a means of thinking about the movement of time as reflected in both radical or subtle changes in the landscape. Iceland has a particular resonance for Halperin as it's the place where her "two worlds meet". She was born in New York and now lives in Glasgow.

Nomadic Landmass includes photographic images taken en-route to Eldfell by Halperin from the window of a small plane; drawings inspired by the Heimaey eruption; geological specimens and footage of the actual 1973 eruption and evacuation of the island filmed by The Center for Short Lived Phenomena at The Smithsonian Institution. Halperin includes anecdotal information within her work in an attempt to fathom both chance encounters and geological incidents. By blending slow time and fast time, coincidences and physical changes, Halperin's work echoes the ever-evolving landscape and the movement her own life.

"My work explores the relationship between geology and daily life. Whether boiling milk in a 100 degree Celsius sulphur spring in the crater of an active volcano, celebrating my birthday with a landmass of the same age or recording the sound of a melting glacier - the geologic history and environmental situation specific to the locale directly informs the development of each piece."