I S O S T A S Y | New film by Marc Rees and Simon Clode

Artists Marc Rees and Simon Clode teamed up to make a short film as part our Antarctica In Sight programme marking 200 years since the discovery of Antarctica.

The result is I S O S T A S Y, a collaboration with Leviathan author Philip Hoare and broadcaster Cerys Matthews. The film had its world premiere on BBC Wales on Thursday 5 August, and is now available to view on BBC iPlayer.

The film uses artefacts from the life of Edgar Evans, a member of Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated expedition to the South Pole, to explore humanity’s legacy in Antarctica - and in particular the complex interaction between humans and whales in the Southern Ocean.

Watch now on BBC iPlayer

Learn more about the project Interview with the artists

Read more about the project in our latest blog article, where we caught up with Marc and Simon to discuss Antarctica, artistic inspiration, Edgar Evans and their hopes for the new film.

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"I S O S T A S Y is the response to an invisible crisis, as invisible as the whale. Just as we never see the biggest animal on our planet, so we ignore our largest uninhabited continent. We need to bear witness. Only sound can stir us from our complacency: the deepest, loudest sound generated by an organism. And like the whale’s song, the reverberations of I S O S T A S Y are as much felt as heard." Philip Hoare 

Get the poster Limited edition print

"The idea of light appearing out of the darkness runs right through ‘I S O S T A S Y’, a slither of light catches a whale’s backbone, a head torch illuminates a map, a glistening trail through white salt mountains leads to forever. For me the beauty of linocut printmaking is about light and the dark. Using mainly black inks I love the process of bringing about light and shape from the darkness with every cut." I S O S T A S Y Poster design by facingwestprints.com

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Listen to the podcast With Marc Rees, Peter Liversidge and Lucy Orta

Find out more about the inspiration behind this project in our podcast episode 'Antarctica In Mind'. Alok Jha speaks with Marc Rees and fellow contemporary artists Peter Liversidge and Lucy Orta, to find out how Antarctica has inspired them in their work, and why the icy continent has been a particularly inspiring place for so many artists, even before the first sighting 200 years ago.

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ISOSTASY is co-created by Marc Rees and Simon Clode, funded by Arts Council Wales with support from UK Antarctic Heritage Trust. It has been developed from a​n original co-commission as part of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust’s cultural programme, Antarctica in Sight.