The London Ice Sculpting Festival was on again at Canary Wharf, there was a sporting theme to tie in with the Olympics.( I'm wondering just how many art events will be on sport/competition/Olympics this year) So I'm still waiting for all the artic animals to appear one year.
The setting in the heart of all the finance and commercial buildings is interesting if a little strange. The tall buildings cast a lot of shadows, while all the glass reflects light in various ways. Potentially challenging for photographers. For the ice carving teams, the challenge is the warm winter temperatures, as the ice melts quite quickly. There is something about the transient qualities of ice sculptures that can bring an intensity to the experience of them.
The UK team had a traditional figure skating, made me think of Victorian England, maybe theres a tie in with the Dickens 200th birthday celebrations as well.
The ice skating rink is also surrounded by the office buildings and seemed to a bit surreal to me. Maybe it was because I was thinking of the transient qualities of ice that I was of a mind to see the transient nature of the financial and banking world.
