Moral Injury [High North] 2022

XL

Gold parachute ripstop

Production Photographs: Sculpture / Performance

North of Spitsbergen June 2022

Moral Injury [Arctic] 2022 Film

Sentinel looking South from the High North

Brings closure to a project that began in 2020 with a trip to The British Museum. I went to research Inuit clothing that I could make and wear during an expedition to the Arctic later that Summer. The following day the UK locked down due to Covid 19.

The Artwork is worn by a sentinel with a gold standard looking South its position in the high North on a fragment of the breaking Polar ice cap.

The pattern is based on Flora Nanuk’s ‘Seal-Gut Parka’ 1980 in the British Museum’s collection. It evolved through lockdown… most obviously through the masking of the face and the appropriation of the gold ripstop fabric I originally intended for the sculpture ‘Deadhouse’s ballon envelope.

The project would not have been possible without the

gracious support and talents of the Artists:-

Sarah Gerats [Guide + Expedition Leader ]

Leander Mienardus Knust [video/photography]

Alexander Heilner [stills/photography]

also the skill, enthusiasm and professionalism of :-

Jasper [RIB Helmsman]

Jonathan [Barquentine Captain]

Matu [Barquentine Crew]

Tom [Barquentine Crew]

Marius [Polar Bear Protection]

Terhi [Polar Bear Protection]

Sanna [Polar Bear Protection]

The Arctic Circle Science + Arts Expedition

Aaron O’Connor Founding Director

Eternal thanks

also in series:

i - Canvas Pattern Inuit ‘Sealgut’ Parker

Cotton Canvas, Thread, marker pen

ii - Gold Inuit ‘Sealgut’ Parker [XL]

Gold parachute ripstop

iii Thia Fishermans Pants [XL]

printed drawing on cotton drill, felt


iv - modified Inuit Parker ‘Sealgut’ scrubs [XL]

Bright Blue Cotton Drill

v - prototype NHS patern scrubs [XL]

Bright Blue Cotton Drill, Printed flag fabric, webbing


vi Bag sent to NHS Scrubs [XL]


2x Set of Scrubs and Laundry Bag

‘Tournament of the Dirty Nurse’

2006

The insertion of the sculpture’s airlifting within a military exercise. The performance was executed by the sculptor and Fleet Air Arm's Commando Squadron 846 NAS and its elite MAOT [ Mobile Air Operations Team ]. Both units actively involved in the Gulf War at the time with the performance carried out by their HQ.

'I have wallowed, I have washed--the world
Is flesh and shadow--I have had my day.
The dirty nurse, Experience, in her kind
Hath fouled me'

Alfred Lord Tennyson, Idylls of the King, The Last Tournament

‘DeadHouse’ [ High Arctic ]

2022

Variable Dimensions 8m x 4m x 4m inflated.

Aircrew liferaft, canvas, wool felt, canvas, rock sample ballast, air balloon, climbing rope, pulleys, anchors, clips. 4 stroke leaf blower, barquentine sailing ship.

‘Deadhouse’ is a sculpture in the guise of a High Arctic expedition to cross ‘The Great Dying’ geological horizon. It takes the form of a modified pilot’s life-raft suspended from an air balloon designed to cross the 251 million year old line of mass extinction exposed in the sea cliffs of Spitsbergen. The equipment endeavouring to provide escape from the dying Permian world into reborn Triassic world… This biotic crisis was the worst of 5 mass extinctions that killed off 90% of life on earth. Perhaps nodding to the vulnerability of species this artwork was postponed twice due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

Deadhouse:- is a place for the temporary reception and exposure of dead bodies. They were common before the mid-20th century in Northern climates where in the winter frozen ground made grave excavation difficult or impossible.

Theatre (Shouting with a Little Stick)

2011

275cms x 150cms x 150cms

Kevlar, carbon fibre, aluminium, steel, wood, limestone, 'guards tunic' wool felt, polyester canvas, nylon

Performance - Installation afloat a flooded sink hole Brecon Beacons

Tournament of the Dirty Nurse

2006

300 x 300 x 220cms

steel, canvas, coir rope, wood

Performance:

Installed on a peak in the Brecon Beacons, South Wales

MAIDEN VOYAGE

2007

86cms x 100cms x 264cms

Polyester canvas, wood, steel acrylic, aqua-lung apparatus:

Performance / manoeuvre cave dive in White Lady Hole , South Wales

Ginnungagap
2014
1056 x 700 mm

 327cms x 370cms x 121cms

Aircrew liferaft, wood, steel, canvas, bitumen, ripstop, nylon, Seagull engine, tape, polystyrene, polyurethane, copper and rock ballast /samples collected onsite (St.Audries Bay, Somerset, UK ) on the execution of its voyage across the Triassic/Jurassic mass extinction horizon.

Sculpture registered on the British Ship Registry - Number SSR159875

#Ginnungagap is the vast, primordial void where creation begins. It is also the dark abyss in which the world collapses at its end, during Ragnarök [Doom of the Gods]. These Norse beliefs are cyclical, for out of this destruction, this Ginnungagap, the cosmos is subsequently reborn. A cycle mirrored in the phases of living things, the moon, the seasons, night and day, and the flourishing of life after mass extinctions.

 Ginnungagap   [sculpture - exhibition installation Selfridges Windows photos: Andrew Meredith] 2014

Skíðblaðnir

2014

120cms x 33cms x 18cms [closed] 120cms x 16cms x 150cms [open]

canvas drawings, ripstop canvas, steel, rope, eyelets

Sculpture registered on the British Ship Registry - Number SSR156722

 #Skíðblaðnir is the best of ships in Norse mythology, it was owned by the god Freyr and attributed to the magic of Odin. Skíðblaðnir is the finest ship and the most ingeniously created, when not neededit had the ability to be folded up—as cloth may be—and stowed into one's pocket.

‘Moonshine Suit’

2014

Dimensions: XL / 1980mm x 305mm x 305mm Stowed

Medium: Bespoke heat resistant personal volcanic thermo-distillation equipment,

Performance: Expedition to distill  Cider made from the fruit of The Fall using thermo - volcanic heat at the Gates of Hell, Mount Hekla Iceland. [see 'Diaspora' 2008 # Forbidden Fruit cider]

Líf + Lífþrasir

2021

H 120cms x W 240cms x D20cms @ 16kg

production documentation:- Líf + Lífþrasir crossing the horizon dividing the dying Cretaceous world and the reborn Paleogene.

Love Island Double Heart Inflatable, Military grade survival equipment fabric,

fasteners, cords, bespoke mini signal flags, survival knife, water reservoir, Rock Sequence Paleogene Mass Extinction,

the complete works of William Shakespeare, the Bible and Luxury item,

In cyclical Norse mythology whilst ‘Ask + Embla’ were the first two humans, created by the gods. ‘Líf + Lífþrasir’ were the only two humans designated as sole human survivors after Ragnarok, the battle at the end of the world.

The Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary / K–Pg Mass Extinction Horizon

66 million years ago a 10-15 mile wide asteroid hit the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico at Chicxulub. The resultant shock waves, tsunami and ejected vaporised seafloor and impactor caused immediate and long term effects on the climate and food chain. This was the most recent and most rapid of the big five mass extinctions. The consequential impact winter exterminated 70% of all life on earth notoriously including the dinosaurs except for birds.

Iridium anomaly

Iridium is a dense metal common to earth, however due to its mass it sank to the planets core whilst our world was in a primordial state and still molten. The rare Iridium we find in the earths crust today has all been delivered by asteroids, meteoroids and comets. It is frequently used by industry in spark-plugs, pen nibs and scientific equipment due to its high melting point and corrosion resistance. Ironically finding its way back into space via the spacecraft Voyager, Viking, Pioneer, Cassini, Galileo and New Horizons. In the aftermath of the Chicxulub impact and thin layer of the meteorite’s iridium settled on the earths surface across the globe. This strata of more common than usual iridium is an anomaly that clearly identifies across the globe the geological moment of mass extinction. It is particularly prominent in the clay cliffs of Stevns Klint in Denmark in what was a calm and shallow sea.

Sabrina2019

Dimensions: 181cm (L)x 189cm(w)x170cm(h)

Medium: Canvas, inflatable swan, wendy house, para cord, Navigation lights, drawing printed on silk,

Sculpture registered on the British Ship Registry - Number SSR173593

Performance:

Guard Ship ‘Sabrina’ [The Lost island Sabrina, near São Miguel, Azores] 2019

‘The First and Last’

2016

87 cms x 95 cms x 12 cms

Canvas, Signal flags, printed canvas, wood, brass flag pole fittings

Performance :

Sculpture installed on sumit of Mt. Vulcano in Tyrrhenian Sea

Ceremonial flag pole strung with prayer flag ensigns of God, emoji & the Black Flag at the foundry of Vulcan

Isaiah 44:6 (Old Testament) —
“I am the first and I am the last [ אמת ]; besides me there is no god.”

Revelation 22:13 (New Testament) —
“I am the Alpha and the Omega [ ΑΩ], the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
(spoken by Jesus in Christian interpretation)

Surah Al-Hadid (57:3) the Qur’an
“He is the First and the Last, [ الأول†الأخر ] the Ascendant and the Intimate, and He is, of all things, Knowing.”

‘Crossing the T’

2019

Rifle Case (Peli), Royal Navy Battle Ensign, nylon mesh, para cord.

1366mm x 419mm x170mm

Installation:

‘Crossing the T’ [Cape Trafalgar, of Los Caños de Meca]

2019

Royal Navy Battle Ensign

11’ 6” x 5’ 6” variable

Sculpture: Germs of Empire [Deptford Sign]

Date: 2023

Artist: Michael Lisle-Taylor

Installation: at the 'Bone Beds Deptford'. A site where you can see discarded bones from salt beef & salt pork production at the Royal Navy's primary Victualling Yard Deptford London 1513-1961 . The bones were used in the related sculpture Germs of Empire. The Title comes from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the passage reflects on the River Thames and Empire ending “The dreams of men, the seeds of commonwealths, the germs of empires.”.

‘Interloper’ [Germs of Empire]
2018
210 x 56 x 20cms
Canvas printed with ‘Germs of Empire’, surf board

Performance: Da Nang 2018

‘DeadHouse’ [ Porth Clais Test Flight ]

2021

Variable Dimensions 8m x 4m x 4m inflated.

Aircrew liferaft, canvas, wool fest, canvas, rock sample ballast, air balloon, climbing rope, pulleys, anchors & clips

‘Deadhouse’ is a sculpture and air ballon survival equipment designed to cross the geological mass extinction line exposed in a sea cliff on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. The rock strata divides the Permian & Triassic worlds marking the ‘Great Dying’, Earths most severe Biotic Crisis, when life on Earth nearly came to an end. The sculpture will rise up and cross this 251 million year old line marking the death of 90 percent of the planet's species. The expedition has been postponed twice due to the Covid 19 pandemic and is now scheduled for June 2021.

‘DeadHouse’ [ Porth Clais Test Flight ] was an exercise in preparation for the Arctic trip. In steep contrast to the geological end of days [The Great Dying ] ‘Deadhouse’ is designed for, the ‘Test Flight’ was conducted at the beginning of significant life [The Cambrian Explosion].

The geological beds at Lech Cyllyll (Slab of Knives) Porth Clais Pembrokeshire, Wales are the first beds laid down in the Cambrian period 541 million years ago. The scientific name for this geological period is named after the Roman name for Wales [Cambria]. Originally lying horizontally as sediment in an ocean near the edge of the ancient continent Gondwana at the South Pole. They have been deformed my mountain building tectonic clashed with other continents that also created the mountains of the Svalbard. These rock beds are evidence of the rapid diversification of life forms that represent life on Earth, christened by geologists as the Cambrian Explosion.

The period from the Earth’s creation up until the Cambrian is known as the Precambrian and accounts for 88% of all Earth's geologic time.

‘Subduction Zone’

2016

84 cms x 95 cms x 12 cms

Canvas, printed canvas, inflatable lining, volcanic rock ballast from Stromboli

Performance:

Sculpture installed floating above fault line where the African tectonic plate is subducted under the Eurasian plate at Stromboli in Tyrrhenian Sea

Locus Amoenus [Series]

Locus Amoenus Fault [ Vaynor ]

2013

70cms x 60cms x 60cms (in case)

herculite, model materials, pelicase

Installation :- Gorge in Vaynor Brecon Beacons, S.W. Wales

'Life Net'

2021

Steel, Rip-Stop fabric, canvas, elastic, cord, webbing, pins, foam, eyelets.

180cms x 352cms x 15cms

Based on survival equipment deployed by fire crews to rescue people leaping from burning buildings. Life Net is printed with all the Conditions, Disorders and Problems our species recognises. Each condition is printed in alphabetical order as listed in the ‘Psychiatrists Bible’ DSM-5. and destined to be absent from any future rock record.

The sculpture rests against cliffs formed from the skeletal remains of life forms laid down 89 million years ago, prior to the last great Mass Extinction in deep oceans far from land, now settled by angry Gulls on Seaford Head, England

Diaspora

2008

1 litre cider (edition)

Malus Seversii apple cider, peli-case, 1 litre scientific grade flask

Malus Seversii apples - hand picked, pressed and fermented by the artist in bespoke equipment. The apples are the genetic father of all apples and grow wild in the foothills of the Tien Shan mountains Kazakhstan.

The apples were harvested in the proximity of Semipalatinsk Test Site (Semipalatinsk-21 / "The Polygon") marked by a black panel on the map. This site was the primary testing venue for the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons. The two isotopes [Caesium-137 & Strontium-90]  identified along with Malus Seversii on the Diaspora bottle label are not found naturally. They are only released through nuclear fission and contaminate all living things through absorption. 

 Performance / manoeuvre images apple harvesting East Kazakhstan.

Performance / manoeuvre cider making with Malus Seversii apples in bespoke equipment Bow East London.

Apotheosis of a Tar

2010

160cms x 90cms x 50cms

pvc. canvas, wood, tar, polyurethane, para cord, canvas: 

Performance / Manoeuvre - sea trials Portland, UK

Sculpture registered on the British Ship Registry - Number SSR152832

Colours

2026

186cms - 600m × 50cms × 72cms, 100kgs

steel, canvas, aluminium, wood, MOD spec. flag weave polyester, webbing

Sculptural Performances:

Installation on Bannau Brycheiniog [Brecon Beacons]

'Colours' 2026 is a 100kg telescopic signal flag back pack. You can hike up the tallest mountains to shout your virtuous signals in reliable analogue fashion with anyone or all of the 22 coloured flags and pennants. The artwork's first field trial was conducted in the Bannau Brycheiniog [Brecon Beacons]

Colours

2026

186cms - 600m × 50cms × 72cms, 100kgs

steel, canvas, aluminium, wood, MOD spec. flag weave polyester, webbing

Sculptural Performances:

#Installation on cliff West Dale, Pembrokeshire overlooking the Celtic Sea.

Colours

2026

186cms - 600m × 50cms × 72cms, 100kgs

steel, canvas, aluminium, wood, MOD spec. flag weave polyester, webbing

Sculptural Performances:

#Installation on Coaley Peak, Nympsfield, overlooking the Severn Vale.

2022 Art & Science Expedition to the Arctic and the International Territory of Svalbard aboard the traditionally rigged Barquentine Antigua.