Antarctica exhibit slides to Hopkins Hall

An Antarctic experience is available this month through a special exhibition at Hopkins Hall. Fresh from the OSU archives, David Abbey Paige's historical pastel drawings of the polar region will be gracing the gallery beginning today until October 29. Also on exhibition will be other Antarctic experiences for inquisitive minds.

"Passion and Visions: Antarctica" will be crowned by 60 drawings of Antarctica created by the Armenian American artist. These images were produced when he accompanied Richard Byrd on his second polar exhibition between 1933-1935.

The drawings have a lot more to offer than pictures of white snow. Paige used dark blue, green, yellow, purple, orange and other colors to capture the landscape as it interacts with the sun and atmosphere.

"There is a subtlety in the drawings that can't be captured in reproduction," said Prudence Gill, curator of the Hopkins Hall gallery.

The drawings also include seals, clouds, pictures of the boat they were using and some of the members of the crew as they carried on daily activities. These images were last seen on display at a German gallery in 2004, said Laura Kissel, curator of OSU's Byrd Polar Research Center. She said that the German exhibition was very popular, and that the paper images were matted and framed before they returned them.

The drawings are being taken from the OSU Archives and will be displayed for the first time in the U.S. since 1939, according to the Hopkins Hall Web site.

To accentuate the exhibition of Paige's work and to give a fuller impression of Antarctica, there will be other displays such as, historic photographs, expedition memorabilia, and reconnaissance photographs shot by artist Ed Osborn, along with maps.

"The exhibition gives (the viewer) a chance to do their own expedition," Kissel said.

According to Osborn's Web site, the reconnaissance photographs for his piece titled "Flyover" were shot in the 1960s from the underbelly of an airplane as it flew across the landscape. These images were made to blend into one another at roughly the same speed at which the plane was traveling, in order to give the viewer a sense of real time in viewing the landscape. The video also has a voice over from a gazetteer, who makes his best effort to put names and descriptions on the unnamed landscapes, like Shapeless Mountain, Intention Nunatuks, Mistake Peak, Home Run Bluff and Co-Pilot Glacier.

As a special guest presented by the Byrd Polar Research Center, OSU will be welcoming Osborn to the Knowlton Hall auditorium on October 27 at 4:30 p.m., where the Finnish born artist will talk about polar representation.

According to Gill, there will be some old video footage shot by Paramount rolling on continuous play at the expedition. The video consists of about an hour and a half of footage of the 1933 expedition.

To get an idea of current Antarctic geography, there will also be the most recent RADARSAT images of Antarctica selected from the Byrd Polar Research Center.

There will be also be opportunities to have informal guides explain the exhibit to the guests of Hopkins Hall.

On October 12 at 12:30 p.m., director of OSU's Byrd archives, Dr. Rai Goerler, along with Kissel, will be discussing the second Byrd expedition and the drawings of Paige.

On October 19 at 12:30 p.m., Geographical Sciences director, Garry McKenzie, along with retired Byrd Research associate, Henry Brecher, will be giving an informal talk about the art of making maps of Antarctica, called cartography.

As part of the Antarctic theme, OSU will be welcoming Barry Lopez, author of the National Book Award winning "Arctic Dreams," to Hughes Hall auditorium on October 26 at 7:30 p.m. Lopez is considered one of the nation's premier nature writers. His writings are known for their attention to the relationship between human culture and natural landscapes.