CircumSolar, Migration 1, 2013.
Single-channel video installation, 25-ft diameter, 26:20 minutes.
Filmed in 16mm film and digital formats on location in Iceland, Svalbard, and Finland.
Commissioned sound composition by Ben Frost.
Projected onto a custom-made circular screen with a 25-foot diameter, CircumSolar, Migration 1 by Rebeca Méndez is a 26-minute immersive video installation that highlights the epic journey of the Arctic tern, a pelagic bird renowned for making the longest migration of any creature. Each year, the Arctic tern flies from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back, experiencing the perpetual daylight of the polar night during both the boreal summer and the austral summer. CircumSolar, Migration 1 depicts the Arctic tern’s remarkable journey across nearly the entire circumference of our planet, spanning almost the complete length of our Earth’s meridians, propelled by the invisible forces of the sun, moon, oceanic currents, trade winds, Earth’s magnetism, and food hotspots. When daylight wanes, the tern’s instinct to migrate is reignited, and it takes to the skies again, harnessing its mastery over the natural forces that govern our planet.
Blending scientific inquiry with poetic expression, CircumSolar, Migration 1 explores pressing contemporary themes, including human and animal migration, the ecological impacts of anthropogenic climate change, and the geopolitics of the polar regions. Méndez underscores that humanity is an integral part of the planetary ecosystem, challenging us to reconsider our relationship with the natural world. Méndez immerses herself in the Arctic tern’s perspective, striving to “become with” another species on a planetary scale. This approach is inspired by Donna Haraway’s concept of “making kin,” promoting interspecies relationships and reciprocal connections.
Méndez is similarly guided by the author Barry Holstun Lopez, who calls for a more intimate and less rational relationship with nature, back to a sense of mystery, a state of awe. He argues for “an enlightened response to indigenous cultures, whether Aztecan, Lakotan, lupine, avian, or invertebrate. By broadening our sense of the intrinsic worth of life and by cultivating respect for other ways of moving towards perfection, we may find a resolution we have been looking for, I think, for centuries.”
