Day eight

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/

The work on the fish is ongoing. We placed a new, big block of snow in front of the fish so we can make it bigger, it took three people to get the block properly setted on place! 

Alessandro, the fish sculptor of the day

Work in progress everywhere...

Day seven

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/



Lot of work today in spite of the fact it´s Sunday. Icehotel never sleeps but that´s fine, Rome wasn´t built in a day after all.
We met the Lighting Team to discuss about the illumination in the Suite, the challenge is to create an underwater feeling since the scene takes place on the bottom of a frozen lake. The whole room will be draped in a deep-blue light with the only source of daylight coming straight from the hole in the roof.

To create this particular effect we have to make the walls very smooth and round all the corners.

The fish is also on its way out of the huge snow block inside our room. Snow and Ice are such a lovely materials with different properties and textures but it feels they carry the same Soul.

See you tomorrow.

Day six

This Saturday all the Artists had a day off from the work in the Art Suites, with different activities organized by Icehotel. Among the many interesting things to chose from, we decided to go with reindeer sleigh and driving snow-mobiles at the Torne River.

We had a lovely day, a little break to recharge body and soul.

 

 

In the meanwhile the Icehotel keeps on growing...

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!