Wilderness is a human concept defining amongst other things a world ‘beyond’ our control or even ‘understanding’. It is the bracketing of a physical space in the larger context of a belief in human supremacy. Our lack of engagement with environment is demonstrated by our dependence on being insulated from it.
In home, the artists challenged this statement directly, placing themselves at the ‘mercy’ of the elements whilst undertaking an ten-day walking expedition through the remote and pathless landscapes of the north of Iceland. In consistently misty conditions they had to rely on a mix of basic technology (a 1:100,000 scale map) and increasingly their own instincts to guide them through this rugged terrain. In such an environment, ‘home comforts’ are, indeed, relative – and clearly the most reassuring ‘things’ seen each day were the man-made cairns that continued to guide them ‘home’, and which are the focus of the exquisite photographs in home *.
*Mike Collier in exhibition catalogue Walk On 2013
Exhibition: Slúnkaríki, Ísafjörður, Iceland (1999)