Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

INTERPOLAR – TRANSNATIONAL ART SCIENCE CONSORTIUM: Makrolab Arctic Base and Ladomir Antarctic Base  (I-TASC)

Outline
I-TASC is an international network of cultural, scientific and media technology organisations who have in common an interest in the convergence of art and science to productive and poetic effect. The network seeks to establish in the Arctic and Antarctic the framework conditions for collaborative projects between artists, scientists, tactical media workers and engineers in the fields of migration, weather and communications. This is envisaged through the installation and maintenance of two mobile art and science research facilities in the Arctic and Antarctica between 2007-2009. We will launch two micro-satellites in the high sun-synchronous elliptical orbit micro-satellite constellation in 2007/2008 to enable research and contact between the two stations. The facility planned for the Arctic Circle is MAKROLAB mkVII, an autonomous, minimal environmental impact communications, research and living unit capable of sustaining up to 8 crew members for long periods of work in isolation/insulation conditions (60-180 days). Onboard renewable-energy systems, bioreactor/biological sewage processing and water recycling systems, and satellite communication and radar infrastructure, developed during previous manifestations of the project, will be augmented to fully winterize the MAKROLAB and provide its crews with the tools/resources needed to conduct joint or independent work in concentrated polar field-research environments. Operational systems researched/developed during the MAKROLAB Arctic phases will be applied to the design and construction of a new rapid-deployment polar research station with the working title LADOMIR, which will be tested in Antarctica in the southern summers of 2008 and 2009. LADOMIR is named for the utopian poem written in 1920 by the Russian Futurist Velimir Khlebnikov, which describes the universal landscape of the future through the destruction of the old world and its synthesis in the new. The word is a combination of LAD, meaning both “harmony” and “living creature,” and MIR, both “peace” and “world, universe.” Adopting the related constructivist notion of FAKTURA, which can be understood as the conferring of tactile and sensorial qualities onto abstract artistic or scientific elements, LADOMIR will be dedicated to producing readable/tangible surfaces which the public will be able to use to reflect on vague or otherwise invisible polar systems and scientific data from Antarctica. Telecommunications, weather systems and migration are seen as three multiple-dynamic global energy systems which can be explored to understand how our planet functions on natural, social and technological levels, and the knowledge inherent in each can in turn be applied as primary sources for new cognitive and evolutionary strategies.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
By facilitating collaboration between artists and indigenous and scientific polar communities in an open source creative commons, we hope to significantly advance the ways in which old and new polar cultures relate to each other (and to non-polar communities) and ultimately create a usable, constantly-updated, shared archive of readable surfaces, constituting a free, live interpolar resource which people around the world will be able to access and interact with directly through readily available broadcast mediums and network technologies. We hope our renewable-energy research and bio-systems development will assist in the joint effort to engineer a sustainable human presence in Antarctica.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
An expanding transnational collaboration between cultural, scientific and academic institutions in South Africa, Canada, Slovenia, India, Brazil, Netherlands, Russia, Germany, Finland, Jamaica, Norway, Sweden, Japan, Australia, U.S.A., Latvia. Priority will be given to the extension of the network to include audiences/institutions from non-polar countries in Africa, Asia, South/Central America and Caribbean

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Arctic fieldwork: Igloolik, Nunavut (69°20’N 81°49’W) in collaboration with other Arctic communities in Canada, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia Antarctic fieldwork: Dronning Maud Land and neighbouring sectors between 40ºW and 40ºE

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 04/07 – 10/07      04/08 – 10/08      
Antarctic: 12/07 – 03/08      12/08 – 03/09      

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Our initial reconnaissance will require advice and support from existing field stations. Once suitable locations are identified we will need a transport ship and/or fixed wing transport aircraft, snow-terrain vehicles and/or helicopters in order to deploy and service our bases. Our satellite/radar/UAV infrastructure will be shared with other IPY projects

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
MAKROLAB-mkVII will be donated to the Igloolik community as a fully-equipped tactical media and research facility, and permission will be sought from the ATCM to permanently locate LADOMIR in Antarctica as a mobile research facility for future artistic and scientific collaboration. Our micro-satellites will be available for future polar research.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
Consortium
National agency
Military support
Commercial operator
Own support

I-TASC will work closely with the Nunavut government and transport infrastructure for the Arctic part of the project. The Antarctic part of the project will be serviced through mutually beneficial agreements negotiated between I-TASC and different polar operators in the Dronning Maudland Aerial Network.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
MAKROLAB, the I-TASC station which will be installed at Igloolik, was awarded the UNESCO Digital Media Award in 2004. We intend to contact international and national polar agencies operating stations in our proposed research areas to secure their endorsement and support before submitting our full proposal in January 2006.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
Yes

MAKROLAB mkVII at Igloolik will be the final phase of a ten-year programme of research into energy, migration and communication systems in different isolated environments since 1997. LADOMIR, the proposed mobile research station for Antarctica constitutes a new project.

How will the project be organised and managed?
I-TASC will be incorporated as a not-for-profit foundation in the Republic of South Africa. Each member organisation will be a trustee of the ICC and have rotating representation on the conceptual development, project management and financial oversight structures of I-TASC. The project will be based in Cape Town, with satellite offices staffed in Canada, Brazil, India, the European Union and Australia to facilitate regional input and project integration across six continents. Regional directors and two polar operation directors will constitute the joint project management group, which will in turn will be supported and overseen by conceptual and finance committees.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Our member organisations in India, Brazil and South Africa will use their existing regional networks and stronger resource bases to bring institutions from non-polar, developing countries in Africa, Asia, South/Central America and the Caribbean into the consortium, which in turn will bring new audiences, producers and researchers to the IPY..

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
All data produced during the development and operation of the I-TASC polar bases will be submitted freely in utilisable formats to the IPY/ICSU/WMO data centres. We will build a permanent server network to archive I-TASC projects and make these projects freely available through online interfaces, satellite uplinks and streaming broadcasts.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
Funding will be secured from public funding agencies in the respective countries of our member institutions eg. Canada Council; Nordic Culture Fund; British Council; National Arts Council South Africa; and from private not-for-profit foundations which fund the development of sustainable, non-proprietary technologies through art and science eg. Daniel Langlois Foundation

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
A very important aspect of the project is to bring the experience and knowledge of indigenous Arctic cultures to the new Antarctic cultures (and vice/versa) through a dynamic, live and archived communications system. This will achieved through the deployment of our micro-satellites during Dnepr LV cluster launches in 2007/2008; the launching and servicing of stratospheric balloons; the operation of a fleet of UAV for remote observation; the development of open source software and hardware for data gathering, processing and intuitive display in the arts and sciences; and the development of autonomous, zero-impact sensor and data relay systems

PROPOSER DETAILS

Mr Thomas Mulcaire
Institute for Contemporary Art
PO Box 2121
Cape Town
8000
South Africa

Tel: +27 21 424 2520 (in Brazil Oct/Nov 2006: +55 11 3873 5503)
Mobile: +27 83 367 7168 (in Brazil Oct/Nov 2006: +55 11 8136 1569)
Fax: +27 11 658 0173
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation