Amundsen leg 3 2014
The NGCC Amundsen is a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker, as well as a scientific research vessel. It was outfitted with equipment and instruments in order to explore the Arctic ocean. Every summer, the ship travels through the Northwest Passage with forty or so scientists on board. In 2014, I was invited to take part in leg 3, the last stage of its voyage in the arctic archipelago from Kugluktuk to Quebec City. For 3 weeks, I filmed from the deck of the boat.
In the beginning, the images show ice forming, up to the Ice Floe, as the vessel moves towards the north. Afterwards, at the exit of the passage, after Bylot Island and the east coast of Baffin Island, the boat drives dozens of kilometers deep into a bay with the aim of mapping the ocean floors. The video shows some of the world’s most isolated landscapes scrolling by at the speed of the boat, interspersed with views of laboratories, scientific equipment and marine biology research samples.
Filmed in October 2014, in the arctic archipelago, Victoria Island, King Edward Island, Bylot Island and Baffin Island.
This work was carried out as part of the BB POLAR transdisciplinary project. The artist would like to thank Philippe Archambault, Research Professor at the Institut des sciences de la mer in Rimouski, Frank Michel, Independent Curator, as well as the Coast Guard crew and the scientists who participated in leg 3, 2015 of the NGCC Amundsen, as well as ArcticNet.
