Double Enigma
5 Channel HD Synchronised Video, 26 minutes Preview can be found here: https://vimeo.com/300115578
Double Enigma was a 3 part pilgrimage undertaken by Jacobus over a period of 2 years. A futile yet poetic journey unfolding across two islands on opposite sides of the globe.
Enshrined with a sense of dark optimism, hopelessness and hope function as the projects warp and weft. A poignant gesture both delicate and severe led the endeavour, which mourns Tasmania’s once glaciated landscape and juxtaposes it with Svalbard’s currently active glacial environment.
Water was taken from an undisclosed glacial lake in Tasmania, boiled down to a drop and then sealed and carried to 78 degrees north in the Arctic. This sample of water was then taken to the depths of an unnamed glacial ice cave where it froze and was left to remain.
A portion of ice from the same cave was collected, boiled down to a drop, sealed and carried back to the initial lake in Tasmania where it was released.
The body of work to be exhibited showcases part of the delicate exchange between the two islands. A series of holistic binary actions exploring ecological grief and geological time unfold at specific locations and elevations. Initially instigated in Tasmania they act as ‘callings’ to be reconciled in the Arctic environment, and finally laid to rest back in Tasmania where the project began.
A dualism is embraced where the infinitesimal and inconsequential human scale of time is contrasted with the imperceivable nature of geological time. Ecological fragility is mirrored by human vulnerability in an at times precarious environment. The figure within the work, a human being, is consumed within yet represents the greatest threat to the featured landscape. A landscape imbued with a sense of religiosity, a sacredness to which the body seeks forgiveness.