RACHEL SIMMONS

Antarctica: An Explorer’s Archive, 2022

Limited edition artist’s book, edition of 12.

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Limited edition artist’s book with archival box, $1850.00. Signed by the artist. Glass and vellum fan book with digitally printed images and text; four vintage 50 ml glass vials with digitally printed vellum pages, knitted socks worn in Antarctica by the artist with embroidery thread, dried acrylic ink & punch labels; painted wooden rack; screen-printed pamphlet book with digitally printed engineering paper & waxed thread. (A) Closed dimensions 11.25” tall x 7.18” wide. Open dimensions 11.25” tall x 14”.25” wide. (B) Closed dimensions 4” tall x 8” wide x .5” deep. Open dimensions are 15” tall x 15” wide x .5” deep (C) Dimensions are 6” tall x 7.2” wide x 1.4” deep. Enclosure is an archival box with custom fitted inserts, measuring 17” tall x 20.75” wide by 3” deep. Edition of 12. Available without box for $1650.00. To inquire about this option, please email Rachel directly at rsimmons4@me.com.

In this archive of books and book-like objects, four themes related to exploration— protection, courage, transportation and guidance— emerged from my research into the heroic age of polar exploration as well as from my experiences traveling by ship in the Antarctica Peninsula. I wrote from my memories and incorporated text from Alfred Lansing’s dramatic recounting of the voyage of the Endurance, Ernest Shackleton’s doomed expedition to the South Pole. Lansing’s heroic, ultra-masculine language is juxtaposed with my photographs, taken as a woman traveling alone, of modern polar ecotourism. The materials in the archive reference essential elements of any expedition-- the gathering of observations and data, the activity of documenting one’s travels through ship’s logs and journals, and the important act of archiving such materials for educational and historic purposes. This interactive archive encourages the viewer to question the role of the ecotourist— a traveler that’s neither scientist nor professional explorer— as well as the importance of documenting travel, whether for work or pleasure. Also included is the story of the MV Lyubov Orlova, the Soviet-era ship I traveled on that was later lost at sea as a ghost ship.