From Under the Glacier is a response to the prompt “að jökla”—a neologism by a rawlings applying the Icelandic verb form to the word “jökull/glacier”. I collected water from running streams from the glacier Snæfellsjökull, purified it, and carved it into a Snæfellsjökull shaped agar agar jelly. This jelly is displayed on a turntable with the engraved sentences “Glaciers are only made of around 40% more water than you. With this refreshing bite, you are a small percentage closer to becoming your most glacial self.” Exhibition attendees were invited to eat a spoonful of the jelly, thus adding some Snæfellsjökull to their own bodily water percentage.
Becoming through eating is a common idea—a personal favourite origin being plant magic, where you can share attributes with plant allies through consuming them in different forms. In Halldór Laxnes’ book “Under the Glacier”, the character Hnallþóra receives visitors of the Glacier with an enormous variety of cakes. These cakes were likely baked using water from her Snæfellsjökull-sourced tap, introducing and merging the visiting characters’ inner flora with the Peninsula’s glacial ecosystem. While a physical transformation is certain with every bite, a storytelling element is crucial to turn this act of eating into a ritual of kinmaking. During the exhibition Að jökla for which this artjelly was made for, the invitation to eat the jelly was accompanied by a short passage from the “Under the Glacier”’s chapter “The Story of Hnallþóra and the Fairy Ram”, as well as a verbal prompt to consider interconnection and reciprocity. We can become-with the glacier by eating it, but how can the glacier eat us in return?
Attendees could share their answers on a collective brainstorm drawn on the venue’s outdoor-facing window titled “How to Become with Snæfellsjökull: A Collective Brainstorm”.
purified Snæfellsjökull water, agar agar, wooden turntable, chalk pen
