Tracking B15

This artist’s book features a fictional narrative about B15, the largest iceberg to have broken free from the Antarctic continent. It was created in 2019 using letterpress, screen & digital printing on graphing vellum, paper and mylar with brass brads for the moving circle in the center. The dimensions are 12” x 6” x 4” Open, 9" x 6" x  .75” Closed. Collected by Tufts University, University of Utah, University of Miami, CalPoly, Harvard University, Scripps College

In 2000, the biggest iceberg ever recorded, dubbed B15, broke away from the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The size of Connecticut, this mega-berg emerged at at time when we still called climate change global warming. It was an ominous sign of things to come, but it was also a natural wonder that attracted a lot of attention beyond the scientific community. The last remnants of this mighty iceberg finally melted near the equator last year. This book blends real scientific observations with a fictional account which tracks the lifespan of B15 and its “descendants,” the smaller bergs that broke away from the main iceberg during its 6,600 mile journey around the Southern Continent. Through a playful tone, excerpts from this character’s “journal” revels pet names for the bergs, admiration for these almost wild objects, and a kind of sweet, oblivious obsession with the narrative they are creating. The excitement and joy in the narrative—reflected in the colors I most associate with my travels to Antarctica, marine blues and the easily-sighted bright red of the outpost buildings— is also a meditation on the sublime. The way the character both fears and embraces the existence of B15 as a symptom of climate change is another way of understanding the nuances of our broader relationship with nature. The interactive nature of the book’s mechanics—the central wheel that spins, the three page notebook and fold out map— encourages readers to engage with the book as an active learning tool.