ID#: 448

Arctic Circle (2011-2021) ; 42:06

by Jan Jacob Hofmann

Independent Artist

“Hrafntinnusker”:  The name “Hrafntinnusker” (Raven-stone-scissor”) refers to a volcanically active region, more precisely, a mountain in Iceland. The elevation Hrafntinnusker is exceptionally rich in obsidian, a kind of glassy solidified lava. On the way to that area, the Laugavegur leads through an area in which the local mountains seemed to be able to perform the technique of grannular synthesis perfectly: grained rhyolite rock is superimposed in light and dark distribution patterns by apparently stochastic laws to create in regard to an artistic point of view an extraordinarily sophisticated designed landscape. “Námaskarð”:  In the north of Iceland there is an active and ever-changing field of hot springs called “Námaskarð”. It is part of the Krafla volcanic system. The area is characterized by a variety of different thermal springs, boiling mud pools and mud pots, as well as fumaroles and solfatars. The area is also acoustically interesting, each mud pot has its own tone and rhythm, the air is filled with the hissing of escaping vapors. Around the fumaroles, minerals and salts crystallize into ordered patterns in iridescent colors. This composition was created with the gentle support of the Musikfonds Germany. “Ódáðahraun”:  Ódáðahraun is a desert-like, flat and very extensive area of ​​volcanic origin located roughly in the middle of Iceland. Water seeps into the ground immediately, which is covered with grainy lava sand, and vegetation is accordingly sparse. Scattered throughout are the rounded lava rocks from various volcanic eruptions. The name supposedly comes from the fact that “miscreants” who had been condemned to be outlaws fled to the lava desert and hid there because they could be killed by anyone as outlaws. This composition was created with the gentle support of the German Music Fund. “Skeiðarársandur”:  Skeiðarársandur is end of Skeiðarárjökull, a glacier disbanding towards the Atlantic that is part of the huge Vatnajökull glacier. The ground where it is not criss-crossed by meandering paths of accumulating meltwater is mostly flat. The bottom consists of dark gravel and sand sediments of all grain sizes. Due to water currents, these have arranged themselves according to their own laws in terms of size and weight. In this way, sometimes complex and regularly ordered areas have arisen amidst the otherwise evenly randomly distributed deposits, a kind of land art based on physical laws. This composition was created with the gentle support of the Hessian Cultural Foundation. “Vatnajökull”:  Vatnajökull (Islandic: Vatna= water, Jökull= glacier) is Iceland’s and Europe’s largest glacier. It currently has a volume of around 3300 cubic kilometres.
The piece takes the listener inside the glacier. Beginning with the stress cracks common to slow glacier movement, the glacier becomes progressively unstable. A dissolution process begins. This composition was created with the gentle support of the Musikfonds Germany.