Futile Efforts

Jiabao Li, 2024

Field trials indicate that “pumping seawater onto the snow on top of Arctic sea ice can make the ice thicker, offering a possible way to preserve sea ice throughout the summer” (NewScientist, Sep 2024). If pumping seawater onto the snow can save arctic ice from disappearing, I would like to help! Amidst the sublime landscape of the Arctic, I engaged in a series of deliberately futile actions—freezing melted glacier water and giving it back to the glacier, polishing an iceberg with a lens cleaner, sweeping a snowy mountain, cleaning sea ice with a window wiper, and attempting to drain the ocean with a coffee cup. The 5-channel video installation presents these acts in a continuous loop, with each channel focusing on one of the futile efforts. The cleaning utensils are provided in the installation, people can take them and join the movement to help save the Arctic.

Each action reflects a futile gesture against the grandeur and power of the natural world. Freezing glacier water, an attempt to preserve what is rapidly vanishing, symbolizes the desperation to halt the irreversible melting of glaciers. Polishing an iceberg, a task as pointless as it is meticulous, suggests the human desire to control and perfect nature, even as it slips beyond our grasp. Sweeping a snowy mountain conveys the absurdity of trying to impose order on a landscape that is inherently wild and untamable. Finally, the act of draining the ocean with a coffee cup represents the sheer impossibility of addressing global challenges with inadequate tools and solutions.

Videographers:

Edmée van Rijn, Freddie Gluck, Blake Burton, Tuomas Kauko, Leslie Ruckman

Special Thanks:

Our guides from the Arctic Circle Artist in Residence: Sarah Gerats, Kelsey, Lisa, Tuomas

The crew of Antigua: Britt, Estée, Henner, Sabina, Serge, Wessel

All the artist and writer friends on the boat!