Robin and I have been back to the Fairbanks Ice Park several times since I last wrote about it.
In the multi-block competition, each team has 132 hours to complete their sculpture from 10 blocks of ice. As explained at the Ice Art Championships website,
[t]eams are composed of two to four sculptors that often work round the clock to complete their massive piece. Each team is given 10 blocks of ice. Each block measures approximately 4’ x 6’ x 3’. Artists receive the aid of heavy equipment and skilled operators to lift and position the ice.The techniques used for creating their works vary greatly. Some choose to melt their blocks together and then carve the piece as if it were a single block of stone:
While others carve out portions of their sculpture from the single blocks and then fuse them together afterwards. Here you can see a team getting ready to hoist a carved section of their piece to place up on top.
(As we watched, the piece—which was unfortunately stuck to the frozen ground—broke in two as it was lifted. But not to worry; they “glued” it back together. We saw the completed work later and it looked fine.)
The sculptures look very different in the daylight from how they do when lit up at night with colored gels. Here are shots of some of my favorites, both in day and at night. (Click on the names to go to the webpage about that piece.)
(1st place)
(6th place)
(7th place)
(didn’t place)
And here’s one of the single-block pieces that we liked:
Stay tuned for one last post about the Ice Park!
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