PAUL D. MILLER 1 CONTENTS 04 PREFACE by Brian Greene 06 FOREWORD by Ross A. Virginia 08 INTRODUCTION by Paul D. Miller 14 THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE 16 SONIC LANDSCAPE 18 TERRA NOVA Q&A with Glasberg/Miller 28 DATA LANdsCAPE 48 TIMELINE OF ANTARCTICA 56 POSTERS AND STICKERS 82 ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE 92 EmOTIONAL LANdsCAPE 122 AFROFUTURISM Q&A with van Veen/Miller 126 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 127 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 2 3 PREFACE I don’t know of any studies, but I’d venture that the four forces, it appears, may be united by shared In more speculative areas of physics, such as string Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe and The “ice” ranks high on the list of words in the English heritage manifest in the hot conditions of the early theory, yet more exotic versions of phase transitions Fabric of the Cosmos language most frequently invoked to craft one or universe. As the universe expanded and cooled, the have also been encountered. Even particular kinds of another evocative metaphor or insightful analogy. forces went through a phase transition, crystallizing black holes appear related to elementary particles by Even cosmology—the science focused on the origin out in different ways from their common substrate, such phase transition: certain theoretical models see and evolution of the universe—has found ample taking on the distinct properties apparent today. particular types of black hole and elementary particles opportunities to invoke ice. Well, more precisely, as actually two different phases of the same underly- ice and the transformations it can undergo. As we ing stringy material. Whereas the surrounding temper- all know, water can exist as a solid (ice), as a liquid ature determines the phase in which water will exist, (liquid water), and a gas (steam). These are known the topological form—the shape—of the extra dimen- as the phases of water, and the transformation from sions in string theory (drawn from a class of shapes one form to another is called a phase transition. called Calabi-Yau shapes) determines whether certain Such transitions are so commonplace that we take physical configurations will appear as black holes or them for granted. But they’re remarkable. Based on elementary particles. the properties each manifests, ice, water, and steam seem completely unrelated. And yet, through a simple In one phase, the initial Calabi-Yau shape (the analog manipulation of the environment each occupies, we of the ice phase), we find that there are certain black can witness each transmute into the others. holes present. In a second phase, the second Calabi- Yau shape (the analog of the liquid water phase), these Clearly, even for everyday objects, appearances can black holes have gone through a phase transition—they be deceptive. The transitions between ice, water, and have “melted,” so to speak—into fundamental vibrational steam speak to hidden connections—connections lying string patterns. And as this happens, the extra dimen- beneath the surface of appearances that can be central sional shape tears and then repairs itself, allowing the to grasping the true nature of reality. It’s a lesson that first shape to transmute into the second. In so doing, fundamental physics has recapitulated frequently. Take the process reveals that black holes and elementary the four forces of nature—gravity, electromagnetism, particles, like water and ice, are different facets of the and the strong and weak nuclear forces. Every phe- same fundamental substance. nomenon we’ve ever encountered–from Earth’s motion around the Sun to your capacity to see these words— While you won’t find cosmology or string theory in relies on processes these forces facilitate. But the forces the pages that follow, you will find an artful ode to themselves have vastly different properties: gravity, for ice—literal and metaphorical—crafted in the language example, is billions of times weaker than the electromag- of graphic design, using historical photographs and netic force; the nuclear forces, as their name indicates, infused with Paul D. Miller’s iconic imagination. With operate only over the shortest of distance scales. And Antarctica as its focal point, the book casts a new yet, there is growing evidence that however different and different light on this frozen terrain that has they seem, all four forces are fundamentally connected. long been Earth’s most mysterious region. The book amplifies Antarctica’s frozen isolation, punctured Modern physics strongly suggests that in the scorch- now with ever greater frequency, and reveals its ing temperatures of the early universe, the forces own set of hidden connections, remixing ice anew. would have melded together—like distinct chunks of ice melting into a uniform expanse of liquid water. Just Extreme magnification of ice crystals. as water and ice are united by their common molecu- lar composition, both consisting of H2O molecules, so 4 5 FOREWORD an n Oce ther Sou Such was the early public image of Antarctica, a cold and desolate geographic trophy of little value to soci- “GREAT GOD! ’S ety. Scientists and explorers explored the periphery of ˚34 † 66 THIS IS AN AWFUL PLACE.” le the continent and nations began to carve up this icy irc C world into pie-shaped territorial claims. By the 1950s ic ct –CAPTAIN ROBERT F. SCOTT ar the Cold War was on, and the US and the Soviet Union nt 70˚S Queen Maud Land UPON REACHING THE SOUTH POLE, JANUARY 1912 A Brunt Ice Shelf each created propaganda proclaiming scientific and Enderby Graham Land political dominance of the continent. Land Weddell Sea Dome Larson Coats Land Fuji Kemp Cold Peace began with the 1959 Antarctic Treaty. Ice Shelf Land Biscoe Nations agreed to a future of peaceful activities, with Islands Palmer Filchner 80˚S Land Ice Shelf Berkner MacRobertson no nation able to control any portion of the continent. Island Amery Ice Shelf Alexander Land Science leapt forward and ecotourists arrived in ever Island Ronne Ice Shelf Prydz Bay increasing numbers. Public awareness of the polar Princess world exploded as news stories reported on global Polar Plateau Dome Elizabeth Land Bellingshausen Ellsworth Argus Land warming and the big melt. Suddenly, Antarctica was Sea South Pole Wilhem II a real space. The foundation was set for Paul D. Ellsworth Land Land S o Miller to proclaim the People’s Republic of Antarctica. Davis Sea u t WEST ANTARCTIC South Geomagnetic h A call to all nations and people to see the coldest, Queen Mary e ICE SHEET Pole Land r driest, and windiest continent in a new way. Miller Trans n Antarctic Mountains O spins a multimedia collage of music, art, sound, Amundsen c e Sea Marie Byrd Ross Ice a science, and ice to challenge our sensory and intel- n Land Shelf lectual perceptions of Antarctica. In his artistry, Miller Dome Wilkes Roosevelt Land brings new people, new ideas, and new beauty to bear Island Circe upon a discussion of the future of Antarctica. I invite Victoria Land you to discover what it means to be one of the citizens S Ross Sea Terre o of the new People’s Republic of Antarctica. u George V Adelie th Land Indian Antarctic Basin er n Oc e Dumont d’Urville Sea Ross A. Virginia, Myers Family Professor of Environ- an mental Science, and Director, Institute of Arctic Studies, John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding • Dartmouth College, 2008 †Scott’s Last Expedition Vol. 1, 1913, Smith, Elder & Co, London, pp. 543–44 Captain Robert F. Scott’s Terra Nova; icebound, 1922. 6 7 When you think of the term “ice” there are so many connotations that come to mind: surface tension, temperature, the opacity of the material, the basic sense that it can transform between liquid and solid. It’s elusive because it can become so many things. People use ice for almost every PAUL D. purpose—they make houses out of it, use it in their drinks, land airplanes on it, and if you happen to be in Finland, they make musical instruments out of it. MILLER What I have done with this book is unpack some of the issues that drive my artwork and its relationship to the constantly changing facets of contemporary life in our information-economy dominated, post-everything twenty-first century. Looking back over the last several centuries, an intense amount of energy has been expended all over the world exploring and unraveling the meaning of humanity’s condition on the planet. Much of this energy has been spent in perverse and self-defeating ways. Our vision of modern life is tinged by events like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which makes former disasters like the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident or the 1986 release of radioactive steam in Chernobyl seem quaint and WHAT sphINX OF CEMENT AND self-contained. More than ever, we are interconnected, and interdepen- ALUMINUM HACKED OPEN THEIR dent. In the future, regardless of any human action, the planet will be SKULLS AND ATE UP THEIR here—we, as a species, might not. IMAGINATION?... MOLOCH WHOSE If you look back at “ice” in English, you see it’s derived from the Old BUILDINGS ARE JUdgEMENT! English term “is” that in itself is derived from what most consider to be proto-Germanic “isaz.” There are runes for it. There are symbols for it. There is poetry for it. It’s considered one of the most mysterious materials, –ALLEN GINsbERG, “HOWl!” yet in some parts of the world it’s simply part of the landscape. According to most sources in physics, there are fifteen known crystalline phases of water. Ice can exist on other planets in radically different forms, and if you really want to go “macro,” you realize that hydrogen is one of the basic substances of the universe.