#isachsen

Inspired by his father’s experience working at a remote arctic weather station in the seventies, local experimental filmmaker aAron Munson’s new exhibit at the Art Gallery of Alberta combines archival photos and film footage with interviews and re-enactments by former station workers to recreate the atmosphere of the now defunct Nunavut outpost.

The project initially started when Munson developed an interest in his father’s year working at the Isachsen weather station, from 1974-1975. In reading his father’s diary of that time, Munson came to realize the profound impact that the experience had had on his father, and he began to work on a documentary with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) on the station. Through that process, Munson made contact with other people who had worked there, and conducted interviews and collected documents and photos about the history of the station. Many of the photos of the station and its environment were so striking that Munson felt he needed to see them in a larger scale, and thus the idea for the exhibit was born. “One of the reasons that I had the idea of pursuing the exhibit in conjunction with the film portion is because stepping into a room and seeing all of the images at once translates the beauty and the atmosphere of the station in a way that’s much more accurate than seeing them one by one on a screen,” said Munson.

Munson collaborated with Lethbridge artist David Hoffos on the project, who Munson describes as being “inspiring in terms of his ability to present abstract ideas in an unconventional way.” For Isachsen, 1948-1978, Hoffos created a model, with video elements, of the station as it appeared in 1971. The gallery space will also feature archival and contemporary photos of the station, and two video screens—one featuring interviews with men who worked there, and the other featuring selections of 8 mmm film footage of the station. A well-known name in the local film community, Munson got his start in filmmaking through the Digital Arts and Media program at MacEwan. From there, he joined the Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta (FAVA), first as a volunteer, then as a summer student, and later as an instructor and archivist. He is still actively involved with FAVA, and collaborated with FAVA’s Audio Chair, Shawn Pinchbeck, for the installation’s soundscape. Both Munson and Pinchbeck are past Edmonton Artists’ Trust Fund award recipients, and Munson received an Edmonton Arts Council individual project grant to support this AGA installation. “Many people take for granted the support that we [as Edmonton artists] get on a municipal and provincial level,” said Munson. “Municipally, I believe we are one of the best supported arts communities in the country. When I talk to artists in other cities, they are always amazed at the support that we get in Edmonton.” As far as future projects, Munson is still in development with the NFB for an online documentary about Isachsen, and he’s interested in doing a full-length documentary on the station at some point. He is also hoping to travel to the now abandoned arctic station to see it for himself. You can see Isachsen, 1948-1978 at the Art Gallery of Alberta’s New Works Gallery from September 14 to November 24. For more information, visit the AGA website.