Part of Ian van Coller’s greater study on deep time, Naturalists of the Long Now, this photograph of a bristlecone pine is a strong and stoic contemporary landscape. The bristlecone pine is part of a rare and resilient species. One of the longest living organisms on earth, the subalpine tree clings to poor soil and survives in pocket corridors of the Western US. So rare are these trees, their location is often kept secret. The bristlecone pine can live thousands of years. Its longevity is believed to be related to the organism’s ability to conserve water and extend life based on its particular ratio of living to dead wood.
Ian van Coller received a 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship for his contemporary artwork on climate change and study on deep time: Naturalists of the Long Now. The project’s title directly references the Naturalists, whose work embraced both science and art, and an initiative to build a 10,000 - year clock. This work again unites disparate fields and causes us to contemplate time in intervals much longer than individual human lifetimes. Work on the subject of deep time began in his backyard. After photographing disappearing glaciers in Montana’s Glacier National Park, van Coller turned to other related subjects, predominantly tropical, arctic, and antarctic glaciers; their study; and the rare ecosystems surrounding and depending on them. Many of these expeditions are done in collaboration with scientists. Van Coller has accompanied scientists on field-studies, documenting their research, equipment, samples and sites.
Ian van Coller
Bristlecone Pine
Archival print on cotton paper
30 40 in. | Edition of 5 | $3,500
40 x 50 in. | Edition of 3 | $4,500