liquid time

2017

Format 1: 132 x 202 cm / 52 x 79.5 in, edition of 6 + 2 AP
Format 2: 67 x 102 cm / 26.3 in x 40.2, edition of 6 + 2 AP
Hybrid photography, archival pigment print, aludibond, diasec, custom-made aluminium frame

Glaciers are the largest reservoirs of fresh water on Earth and an essential element of the fragile ecological balance of our biospheres. Over recent decades, however, the majority of the world’s glaciers have suffered a drastic reduction in their mass as a consequence of global climate change. Rising temperatures across the world and the consequent shrinkage of glacial ice are to be attributed to the ever more potent greenhouse effect. This development poses a calamitous threat to the world population both present and future as the progressive retreat of glaciers and the melting of glacial ice leads to globally rising sea levels, flooding, loss of habitable land and scarcity of food and drinking water. Scientists have computed that the sea level will rise from 8 to 88 cm by the year 2100. The melting of the Greenland ice sheet in the course of the 21st century would even raise the sea level by a drastic 7 m. The present clearly observable disappearance of glaciers is no longer due to natural causes but must be ascribed to anthropogenic influences – as humankind and its technologies impact the Earth’s climate.

The work “liquid time” highlights the fragility of our ecological balance and the significance of the changing state from ice to water. Glaciers are storage houses of time; layer upon layer they capture the air, water and oxygen of countless thousands of years. The picture was taken in winter 2017 in an ice cave under the Brei∂amerkurjökull glacier in Iceland, which is now retreating at an annual rate of between approximately 80 - 100 m. This singular ice cave was formed by melting glacial ice. The ice in “liquid time” has already undertaken a journey of a thousand years and now the process transforming it has set in with the first drops of water as signs of the transition from a solid to a liquid state. Glaciers have a highly delayed reaction to climatic changes; the ice world of “liquid time” simultaneously visualises the past history of the glacier and its future with the wave-like design of the motif serving as a premonition of the uptake of ice water by the sea. The transition from highly compact glacial ice to fluid sea water is irreversible; the numerous fissures and fractures signal the forthcoming transformation.

Imprint

Personally liable:
Michael Najjar

Design concept & coding: Matthias Hübner, possible.is
with support by Marco Land

Disclaimer
Accountability for content
The contents of our pages have been created with the utmost care. However, we cannot guarantee the contents' accuracy, completeness or topicality. According to statutory provisions, we are furthermore responsible for our own content on these web pages. In this context, please note that we are accordingly not obliged to monitor merely the transmitted or saved information of third parties, or investigate circumstances pointing to illegal activity. Our obligations to remove or block the use of information under generally applicable laws remain unaffected by this as per §§ 8 to 10 of the Telemedia Act (TMG).

Accountability for links
Responsibility for the content of external links (to web pages of third parties) lies solely with the operators of the linked pages. No violations were evident to us at the time of linking. Should any legal infringement become known to us, we will remove the respective link immediately.

Copyright
Our web pages and their contents are subject to German copyright law. Unless expressly permitted by law (§ 44a et seq. of the copyright law), every form of utilizing, reproducing or processing works subject to copyright protection on our web pages requires the prior consent of the respective owner of the rights. Unauthorized utilization of copyrighted works is punishable (§ 106 of the copyright law).

Our newsletter

With our newsletter we inform you about us and our offers and events, art fair participations and exhibitions in galleries, museums and art institutions. If you register for our newsletter, we will save your e-mail address, first name(s) and last name, as well as any information you choose to provide on a purely voluntary basis. If you do not wish to consent to this, you can unsubscribe by using the link at the end of every newsletter.

You can revoke your consent to the storage of your data, e-mail address and the use of your data to send the newsletter at any time. This revocation can be effected by notifying us: studio@michaelnajjar.com

In the course of the further development of our website, changes to this privacy policy may become necessary. We therefore recommend that you reread this data protection statement from time to time.