For this project, the Austria-based artist Thelma Herzl photographed unique ash formations at the edge of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. Highlighting the infinite variety of their patternings, Herzl uses the ashes to create black-and-white photographic abstractions that resemble anything from fractals to ocean beds.
Featured image is reproduced from Thelma Herzl: Aska.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
The New York Times
Dana Jennings
When the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland blew in 2010, Thelma Herzl couldn't stay away. Raised in Iceland but living in Austria, Ms. Herzl is a collagist, sculptor and land artist, but here all she had to do was look hard and photograph formations - natural land art - born of volcanic ash. The recommended musical pairing for these images, which take us back to our primal origins as the guts of the earth met the sea, are the ethereal Icelandic soundscapes of Sigur Ros.
"...For Herzl, the volcanic eruption highlighted the tensions that exist between nature and culture, for the sublime is expressed through forces over which humans have no influence. This is the work of nature and, depending on one's world view, of chaos, or of the gods. In art history, confrontation with the sublime is a compelling theme. Not only are fate, drama and death all revealed in it, but it inspires the desired attentiveness. The thread of natural forces, the capriciousness of the gods and the imponderability of chaos speak to man's innermost depths."
Excerpt is reproduced from Anton Ingvar Herzl's Introduction to Aska.
FORMAT: Hbk, 8.75 x 11.75 in. / 138 pgs / 75 duotone. LIST PRICE: U.S. $49.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $67.5 ISBN: 9783866785229 PUBLISHER: Kerber AVAILABLE: 4/30/2012 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of print AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA LA ME
Thelma Herzl: Aska Formations from Icelandic Volcanic Ash
Published by Kerber. Edited by Thelma Herzl. Text by Anton Herzl.
For this project, the Austria-based artist Thelma Herzl photographed unique ash formations at the edge of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. Highlighting the infinite variety of their patternings, Herzl uses the ashes to create black-and-white photographic abstractions that resemble anything from fractals to ocean beds.
