UNC Charlotte art professor Marek Ranis photographed the 50 million-year-old basalt cliffs of the Faroe Islands in Denmark to create an animated video that鈥檚 part-timelapse, part-animated space odyssey.
In his new Charlotte art exhibition, Ranis explores the relationship between cracking rocks, climate change and colonization. The exhibit features several paintings, sculptures and a video projection.
In the video, these ancient Danish rocks fracture 鈥� and the gaps in between fill with stars and distant galaxies. Audio from the Apollo moon landing plays in the video鈥檚 background.
鈥淭he landing on the moon makes a strong reference of colonization of the space and the promise of this alternative place we can move as this place is maybe not capable to support our life,鈥� Ranis said.
Ranis is critical of the idea of a so-called 鈥淧lanet B.鈥� Many of his paintings nod to famous expeditions, such as Shackleton or Amundsen, superimposing silhouettes of Arctic explorers over fractured rocks in space.
The exhibition is called Subcritical. Ranis collaborated with UNC Charlotte geologist Martha Cary Eppes, shadowing her and her students鈥� research in the Canary Islands. Ranis said the collaboration opened his eyes to the fastidious nature of research:
鈥淲e're talking about people who are laying down on the ground 鈥� on the desert 鈥� with measuring devices, and looking at the cracks for eight hours, for 10 days, two weeks, two months,鈥� Ranis said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 beyond one's imagination.鈥�
Eppes鈥� research examines microscopic cracking in rocks, called subcritical fracturing.
She described the process as akin to opening a bag of chips. If a hungry snacker picks a point at random on the bag, their fingers may wrench the bag every which way without results. However, a little mechanical action can go a long way in just the right spot.
鈥淎s long as you find that little crack, then suddenly the force of your finger is really accentuated or concentrated,鈥� Eppes said.
Subcritical fractures are the 鈥渢ear here鈥� notches of the rock world. The force that starts these microscopic fractures can be as small as the collision of water molecules in the air. It鈥檚 a relationship that may evolve as our climate continues warming.
鈥淲hen the atmosphere heats up, then it naturally can hold more water, and then that water is available then to crack rocks,鈥� Eppes said.
You can see this Friday, April 4, at 6 p.m. at the Hodges Taylor gallery in South End.
