Day five

Via live web cam you can follow us working on our Suite Ice fishing in ICEHOTEL. With exception for shorter breaks and lunch, we will be broadcasting the building process between 10 am and 8 pm CET.

You can see the camera at this address:
http://www.icehotel.com/uk/ICEHOTEL/Webcam/Live-artwork/



Today we worked on the roof of the Icehotel Suite to create the hole where the hook is supposed to hang.
First we drilled a little hole from the inside to get the exact position on the outside, then we used a big ice-drill to make the hole wider.

We made the hole perfectly round.

We sealed the hole with an ice block which is going to be the structural support for the hook.

Time to warm up our feet.

Day four

It was 0 degrees outside today and the panorama was like in a postcard.

 

The snow and ice blocks we will use for the sculptures were delivered to the room. Our Icehotel Suite is now full of huge blocks of ice and compacted snow, 8 tons and a half circa coming straight from the Torne river.

When all the blocks were on their place the external walls were built. The tecnique consists in creating a wooden mold filled with fresh snow. One of the builders jumped into the mold to press down the snow. The structure is left for 24 hours to let the snow become very strong and solid. 

Now it´s up to us to create the Magic and bring out an Art Suite from these big blocks laying on the floor. We started to sculpture the fish, can you see it struggling to find its way out of the block?

The crushed snow must be constantlly removed from the Icehotel Suite, brought out on a wheelbarrow. 

Enough for today, see you tomorrow!  

Day three

 Today was a "warm" day in Jukkasjärvi, only -13 degrees.

 

The corridor where our room is located is ready and the molding form has been taken out. The Building Team has started to deliver the ice blocks to the innermost room, then they are going to divide the space for a total of five Suites.

On the right you can see that the Building Team is about to break trough into our room.

Later on we went to take a photosession to Ben Nilsson of Big Ben Productions for the Icehotel Art & Design catalogue.

Today we recived the webcam which we´re going to use to record our daily work inside the Suite. We also did some progress on the building of the sea leaves.

See you tomorrow.

Day two

Morning sky in Jukkasjärvi.

Today we worked on the surface of the hook. We used sandpaper first and after that we polished it using the warmth of our bare hands to get the ice crystal clear.

The room is still under construction but the work is proceeding good.

 

The drawing on the wall shows where the entrance of our room is gonna be located.

To start with the sculpturing of the sea leaves we placed ice blocks on top of each other and "glued" them togheter with water. When it freezes it creates a strong link between the blocks.

 

Next step of the work is to shape the leaves and make the square blocks rounded.

We´re ready for today, see you tomorrow!

 

Now we have started the work at Icehotel!

Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, 9.30 AM

Day one

The first day started with a big meeting at the Oktagård with all the Artists and the Support Team.

The atmosphere was incredibly welcoming, everyone was enthusiastic and happy about being there, we felt like a part of a big Family at once. In spite of the -26 degrees in the air this has been a very warm start.

 

The Hotel is realized in modules, piece by piece. Our room was still under construction when we arrived.

 

We collected our warm working clothes, tool box and started to work on one of the most important items of our Suite at Icehotel: the hook.

Carving in ice has been such a lovely experience. Ice is a very gentle material and easy to shape, the sound of the tools while working on the surface was smooth and peaceful, not scratchy as we expected.

The primary form of the hook is now ready, tomorrow we are going to polish it.