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FASTWÜRMS, Ice Station Isis, 2006

For FASTWÜRMS Ice Follies project, the collective transformed their fishing hut into an esoteric set for their new occult adventure film entitled “Ice Station Isis”, inspired by the 1968 cold war thriller Ice Station Zebra. The ice fishing hut and was used as the setting for a fictional low-tech secret headquarters run by cold war Witches and a team of young interns working on mysterious experiments with rockets, neurochemistry, and submarine communications, complete with flares…

Simon Frank, Hut, 2006

For his Ice Folly, Simon Frank constructed his shelter out of both natural and man-made materials. Using the remains of a fishing hut as a substructure, the artists created a hybrid igloo using cedar branches and piled snow. Only accessible via a ladder at the top of the structure, as you descended the small of free cedar boughs proved enchanting and the interior turned out to be unexpectedly warm and lodge-like. Sitting inside, a was reminded of exhilarating hours spent making snow forests…

Lori Grace Johnson, Meander, 2006

For Ice Follies 2006, Lori Grace Johnson created Meander a work that fused remnants from our Post-industrial civilization with the natural elements: ice and water. Johnson then housed this frozen remnant in a roughly pyramid-shaped plywood sculpture. From a distance, this structure echoed a distant cupola on the Pro-Cathedral. The reference seemed to be that…

Frank Kools, Legacy, 2006

Frank Kools created an “Ice Carousel” for Ice Follies, 2006. This working kid’s carousel featured fish-shaped windows, flags, ornaments, and a beautifully painted ceiling inside. Once the “rider” went inside the hut, the “cranker” turned a wooden handle to start the carousel rotating gently. The piece echoes two conventional carousels that mark the North Bay waterfront in the summertime.

Frank Shebageget, Indian House, 2006

Frank Shebageget constructed a scale model of this childhood home that was reminiscent of a miniaturized house. Originally from Northwestern Ontario, Shebageget is of Ojibway descent and the home he was raised in was built according to blueprints devised by the Department of Indian and Northern affairs.

Peter Von Tiesenhausen, Drift, 2006

Peter Von Tiesenhausen’s project evokes the majesty and violent perfection of the natural world and its rhythms. He is interested in investing contemporary existence with a more profound connection to the radiant of nature in a manner that is neither pure ecology nor distanced irony.

Kim Adams, Minnow Lure, 2004

Kim Adams’ entry into the Ice Follies is a monumental work described as being of “subversive engineering.” Completely constructed of corrugated metal, this “bug-eyed” hut comes complete with a heater, a doorbell, peepholes, candy green seats, cupholders (perfectly sized for beer cans), portholes, toys for adults (sex in a can through a viewfinder), and it’s hung with fantastic lures…

Keith Campbell, Through the Looking Glass, 2004

Through the Looking Glass is Keith Campbell’s crystalline work of art. Made completely of mirrors, this work is all about reflecting back, in a kaleidoscopic way, the beautiful landscape of Lake Nipissing. The creation is always in flux as it continually changes depending on what it is reflecting, integrating the visitor within the art piece itself…

Ernest Daetwyler, Ice Bubbles, 2004

Ice Bubbles by Ernest Daetwyler consists of several smaller bubble huts that people were invited to enter into. Daetwyler was inspired to create these works by a young girl that he knew, who told him that she’d like to get her family and friends into bubbles and then fly away. It is a whimsical installation that speaks about new life, childhood, and our simple, yet profound connections to the lake and nature…

Susan Detwiler, Housecoat, 2004

Susan Detwiler is known as an artist who uses fabric in unique contexts. She has been known to work with roadkill and hunter’s blinds in the past. For this show, Detwiler has clothed a hut in snowmobile suit material, given it pockets and a sash, and in this way “humanized” the structure. The use of the wool and flannel, stuffed with polyfill, gives the hut a layer of extra protection…