McMurdo Wrap-Up

Today brings my project's chapter on the Ice to a close. I've been packing, shipping material home, and saying goodbyes. I depart McMurdo for Christchurch this afternoon, and in a couple days I'll continue home to San Francisco where the artwork chapter of my project begins. For my final post from McMurdo, I thought I'd post an assortment of photos taken throughout my stay that describes the polar community's endearing humor, creativity, inventiveness, quirkiness, and inimitable character. McMurdo is not without entertainment. There are radio programs, movie nights, DVD rentals, and an annual film festival. Less conventional pastimes include South Pole Station's 300 Club and Scott Base's Polar Plunge. Their printed announcements are great entertainment too. Burning Man is so Northern Hemisphere. Beware ye who enter the Waste Barn... ... or cross the footbridge between Crary and B-155. I must have crossed over a couple dozen times before noticing the lurking troll beneath. The first polar bear has been spotted in Antarctica... ...and reports of an elephant at the South Pole are true. Detail of a door in the carp shop, the building with the most character -- and characters -- in town. (The same building with the polar bear and gun-slinging penguin on its exterior.) Michael Deany organizes MAAG, the McMurdo Alternative Art Gallery, an annual event inviting participation from the entire community. Submissions range from paintings to sculpture to installation art and live performances. A sampling of MAAG art. It took me a while to get this one. But of course... missile toe. These prints are by David Craig, a young Massachusetts artist who overprints polar map and chart imagery to create textured, multilayered compositions. He's working at McMurdo's power station in saving toward art school. These pieces were my favorite in the show. Music is huge at McMurdo. Between Icestock, the Waste Barn Party (shown above), Gallagher's Pub, Southern Exposure and the Coffee House, there's always a guitar in hand. Hmm... I'm missing this place even before I've left it.