Freezing

“Frosty Pictures” are co-created by nature, which assumes an active role in the process of making them. The pictures are created in natural conditions, when the weather is cold, preferably with temperature of at least minus ten degrees. This is when “frosty flowers” emerge. It is a subtle process that can be controlled only to a limited extent. The complex set of parameters that we term “weather” makes the result of the work difficult – but not impossible – to predict.
The creation of the frosty structures depends on many weather parameters, most importantly the temperature. We have attempted to achieve the same result using a non-natural method, namely the freezer. If successful, it could be the way to “produce” the pictures outside the winter season, especially in view of the fact that that last two winters have been very warm in Poland, with the temperature almost never falling below zero.
Unfortunately, these attempts have been rather disappointing. Pictures made in a freezer melt immediately after taking them out, lose the subtle precision of the fractal-like “frosty” patterns. The production process should take into account many other parameters, not only temperature.

> Joanna Janiak, Piotr C. Kowalski

photo: Olga Jasnowska