Antarctic Item 040

Antarctic Item 040 comes from a McMurdo rubble pile. The artifact appears to be a conduit connector encrusted with a white sealing agent. While the device isn't particularly attractive, it presumably proved useful to scientific research. In this way it's something of a metaphor for McMurdo Station itself. McMurdo is anything but beautiful. Its hodgepodge arrangement of utilitarian architecture describes practical demands and budgetary limitations. As such, it serves its purpose as a polar research and transit hub but offers little in aesthetic splendor. That is, until we zoom in closer. Looking beyond the white goo of the conduit fitting, I marvel at its rust which at close range resembles brightly colored patches of lichen. Similarly, much of McMurdo's character resides in its inconspicuous textures, weathered colors, and stray marks which speak to Antarctica's environment and history. And that's what I look for in the discards I retrieve from the Ice to post here.