Saturday 6 October 2012

SCHOLARSHIP DAY 37: Dicky's Arctic Circle Video, Field Trip meeting, and "First Friday"

Before addressing today's events, I want to share a special video made by Dicky. He was one of my fellow hostellers who went up to the Arctic Circle with me, last weekend. Here he publishes a montage of some of his favourite landscapes. You can hear a bit of our 'car conversation' halfway through too!

The music chosen is a bit like Dicky; always happy and curious, ready for any adventure.

The hostel is becoming extremely quiet now, with departures happening every day it seems. Chris, my room buddy from Germany, has gone to Anchorage for a few days, and I think I'm the only one upstairs tonight! The nights are drawing in too, with 6 minutes being lost each day.

I'm currently reading a book by Bill Sherwonit called Living with Wildness: An Alaskan Odyssey; it's a fantastic read and for those, like myself who have a passion for the outdoors, it's especially good. He really does encapsulate what wilderness means for him and how nature has enriched his life. With nothing on the itenary until about 2:00pm, I decided to sit back with it, and let Bill tell his story to me.

In less than two weeks time, I will be heading north again with a couple of geomorphologists, specifically to the Brooks Range, where we shall be studying features classified as 'frozen debris lobes'. I think I've mentioned them before. One of these lobes is very close (less than 70m in fact) to the Dalton Highway and the Trans-Atlantic Pipeline, so potentially this will cause a lot of expensive damage. Today was our 'pre departure meeting'. Finally, I met Margaret Darrow who is leading the project, and discussed what kind of measurements we are going to be taking. This project is I reckon at PHD level and beyond so I'm not that worried that I didn't understand everything, but I reckon being part of a contemporary issue such as this, will stand me in good stead for the future. I might even get my first acknowledgement into a scientific paper (even at the age of 18!)

Today was a big day for Fairbanks, as the city held it's monthly event called First Friday. Being the first Friday of October, Fairbanks art and craft was under the spotlight. If you're a local artist, this is the event to exhibit your work. If you just enjoy looking at art, this is the event to view other people's efforts. The problem with it, is that it's only on between 5:00pm and 8:00pm, for some reason, and with so much to see, you really have to plan carefully. I started at the university where there was and 'Snow and Ice' gallery.


It was held in the International Arctic Research Centre, and displayed lots of great photographs of the cryosphere, although the number of glaciers certainly outweighed the rest. I saw a similar exhibition in the Royal Geographical Society Headquarters in London, funnily enough on the day of my scholarlship interview. Glacier photos are not just beautiful to look at, but they can be used to compare retreat.

Outside, I was given indication of just how many miles I was from home. But at least I knew the direction. Funnily enough, I thought England was in the opposite direction, but then my instincts were never always 100% accurate.


I had to very quickly board a bus and get to downtown to reach the other exhibitions before it was too late. On the way, a lady on the bus doing a survey, asked me whether buses on Sundays in Fairbanks would be a good idea. Knowing what it's like to have to walk in sub-zero temperatures and the fact that it will soon get colder still, I opted for 'yes', and joined the 9 others that had apparently voted for the introduction of Sunday buses. From peeping at her tally chart, only one had said 'no'. This was probably the bus driver!

It was overwhelming to see the amount of art in the city, but not only that, the quality of the art. Some of it was inspiring. I started in the Morris Thompson Visitors Centre, and worked my way South East. Although it wasn't necessarily part of the exhibitions, I noticed a large aeroplane hanging from the ceiling. I hadn't seen it before, and being my favourite colour, it looked like something I couldn't miss on my many visits here. However, it seems that it has been there for years. Puzzled by how I missed such a focal point all these weeks here, I left the centre and headed to see more of the First Friday exhibitions.


Most of them were being held in the main mall, (if you can call it a mall). It's a two storey building with a number of different shops, but tonight they were all tailored to be showcase galleries. I saw some really lovely artwork and got speaking to many of the artists. Free food was being offered at the entrance-way of every shop, and like any tourist, I took advantage.


What amazes me is the quality and diversity of art and craft here in Fairbanks. I spoke to a lady called Dee Carpenter; she paints to relaxes, with calming music in the background. It's her hobby, and yet the excellent quality of her work suggests hours and hours of solid effort. Not being an artist, I wouldn't know just how much effort it requires, but from my discussions tonight, it seems to me that the artist gets as much pleasure from producing them as the viewer gets from looking at them.

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