Polaria

In August 2001 artists Bruce Gilchrist & Jo Joelson traveled to remote North East Greenland to record the transition from 24-hour daylight to the twilight onset of winter. They used a spectroradiometer to periodically measure and record light, and the body's physiological responses using a range of biomonitors. The Polaria fieldwork generated an interactive virtual daylight chamber—a self illuminating machine—inspired by post-industrial concerns over the quality of the working environment and medical research into the beneficial effects of polarised, full spectrum light.

Polaria was financially supported by London Arts, The Arts Council of England, Centre for Contemporary Arts (Glasgow), Northern Gallery for Contemporary Arts, (Sunderland), Oxford Brookes University, Clearvision International. Additional support from Artsadmin, Air Iceland, The Cambridge Arctic Shelf Programme (C.A.S.P.), The Danish Polar Centre, FujiProfessional, Hasselblad and the ProCentre, Iwasaki Eye, The Solar Energy Alliance, EPFS (Equipment Pool for Field Spectroscopy), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), and The Awakened Mind Ltd.

Video courtesy  London Fieldworks