Phil Dadson

Chthonian Pulse (2004)

23 min 41 sec3 channel installation / Digital Video / Colour / Sound

"Chthonian Pulse represents nature in a mesmerising and alien world-upside-down mode; an inverted canoe prow filmed in a turbulent sea-cave, flanked by slow and rapid-motion 360 WUD pans across the sculpted landscape filmed in the Garwood Dry vallery, Antarctica (2003). Short abrupt bursts of sound and image are intercut from the alien icescapes of McMurdo Sound, shot from the air."

—Artist's statement

Selected exhibitions

  • Art from Antarctica, Brazil, Germany (2009)

  • Sur Polar, Buenos Aires (2006)

  • Tapping the Pulse, Philip Dadson works 1971-2004, New Zealand Film Archive, Wellington (2005)

Scroll below to see more video works from the series Polar Projects.

Credits & notes

Filmed in Antarctica (2003).

Produced with the support of Antarctica NZ and Creative NZ Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa.

Polar Projects was nominated for The Walters Prize (2006). Collection of the Adam Art Gallery, Wellington.

Installation notes

To be exhibited as a stand-alone video or with selection/complete works from the series Polar Projects (8 works).

Three projections onto screens mounted at floor level. Looped. Synchronised or presented in consultation with artist.

Stereo audio from two projection sources.

Ratio: 4:3

    Three images projected on to screens at floor height, the images show sky and other landscape

    Installation view of Chthonian Pulse (2004) Phil Dadson, at Pelorus Trust mediagallery, New Zealand Film Archive, Wellington (2005)

    Other works in this series

    ECHO LOGO
    Phil Dadson

    ECHO LOGO (2003)

    A sound-echo performance under the thirty metre high ice-face of the Canada glacier, in Taylor Valley, Dry Valleys, Antarctica.

    ECHO LOGO
    Flutter
    Phil Dadson

    Flutter (2003)

    Sonic kinetics of a solo red-flag on a bamboo pole in a 60k wind on Arrival Heights, near Scott Base.

    Flutter
    Terra Incognita
    Phil Dadson

    Terra Incognita (2005)

    An ironic take on the magnetic attraction of the 'ice' for adventurers, explorers, artists and scientists.

    Terra Incognita
    StoneMap
    Phil Dadson

    StoneMap (2004)

    A continuous, slow, and fast motion exploration of the Garwood and Taylor Dry Valleys in Antarctica.

    StoneMap
    Aerial Farm
    Phil Dadson

    Aerial Farm (2004)

    Mast and wires appear as a shifting, illusory graphic outline against a background of ice & intermittent snow-drift.

    Aerial Farm

    CIRCUIT is the
    leading voice
    for artist moving image
    practice
    in Aotearoa New Zealand,
    distributing works,
    critical review and
    dialogues
    which reflect our unique, contemporary
    South Pacific context.