Permafrost Thaw at Storflaket Research Site

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Permafrost Thaw at the Storflaket Research Site, Sweden, this piece incorporates painting and sound to explore the connection that scientists and locals have to the nature and the ecosystems of the arctic town Abisko.

A recording within the mud of the bog directly above thawing permafrost is interwoven with a conversation with permafrost scientist Liam Hefferman. The sound recordings within the bog reveal the constant sound of tiny bubbles popping. These are thought to likely be methane bubbles, released from the thawing permafrost. The sounds of a drone used by a researcher and traffic are heard in the recording. Lindt interweaves these sounds to reveal the complex world of interaction between these peat bogs, vanishing permafrost and humans.

This interdisciplinary series includes five pieces, all created by Lindt by the weaving together of underground/subsurface acoustics, painting, and human voice. Each of the five works focus on one location chosen by a local/scientist. The audio weaves in the voices of the participants as they describe their connection to their site. These interviews are also recorded within the subterranean realm, inside the soils and trees, as the broader ecosystem might encounter these human sounds.

For this series, Lindt creates paintings that are representative of a synthesis of the sounds deep within the landscape, the voices of the interviewees and her own presence within these collaborations.

Painting: Permafrost Thaw at the Storflaket Research Site, Sweden, Ink and acrylic on paper, 60 x 48 inches (150 x 120 cm), 2023

This project is part of the Access Abisko project Changing Perspectives; Nature’s contribution to people in a changing climate and is supported by the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat.