The project “The Iceberg in the Room” tells the story of Swiss Camp, a research station located at 69 degrees north on the Greenland ice sheet.
Originally set up in 1990 by a group from the ETHZ led by Dr. Konrad Steffen. The aim is to raise awareness to the iceberg in the room by creating a place in which people can immerse themselves in the topic, possibly creating an uneasiness that could lead them to addressing the topic at hand with greater urgency. We will not only tell a short story of the camps history, but more importantly project the findings and scientific data that has been collected over 30 years, through various graphs, and videos that will be projected onto the walls of a large crocheted iceberg sculpture. Idea being that the public will be able to actually enter this space, go inside, immerse themselves within the walls of the iceberg in the room, becoming a part of the iceberg in the room, no longer ignoring the obvious, rather becoming one with the iceberg in the room. Allowing us to address and talk about the subject more openly.
Its title hints at the notorious, ‘elephant in the room’ – a metaphorical idiom which tackles important or enormous topics, questions, or controversial issues that are obvious or that everyone knows about but no one mentions or wants to discuss because it makes at least some of them feel uncomfortable and is personally, socially, or politically embarrassing, controversial, inflammatory or dangerous.
Created by Simon Steffen and Sonja Schenkel