Operation Habbakuk (2022)
In 1942, British inventor Geoffrey Pyke proposed an ambitious plan to develop a massive, ice-based aircraft carrier code-named Operation Habbakuk (aka ‘Bergship’). Soon after, a team of Canadian conscientious objectors were sent to Jasper National Park to develop a 1000-ton prototype that would utilize a new material called Pykrete - a mixture of wood pulp and ice, which was believed to be easily repairable and nearly unsinkable. However, the project was eventually abandoned, and its remains now rest at the bottom of Patricia Lake.
80 years later, on Örö Island, Pykrete was again used to create a frozen one-man naval life-raft, which slowly underwent a form of strategic growth, fueled by several competing Arctic geoengineering technologies. Launched in off the island’s coastline, this geoengineered ice would in theory remain frozen at temperatures at least 1.5 C warmer that the surrounding sea water. This prototype takes its departure from three speculative climate proposals which aim to thicken the rapidly melting Arctic sea ice:
Proposal #1: Accelerated Ice Thickening: In 2016, A team led by astrophysicist Steven Desch, proposed installing 10-million floating wind-powered water pumps in the Arctic. These pumps would bring warmer water up to the cooler surface, to re-freeze and thicken the existing ice by more than 1m per year. If implemented each winter, this thicker ice could withstand the rising temperatures experienced during warmer months.
Proposal #2: Enhanced Reflectivity: Recently, Arctic Ice Project, led by Leslie Field, has begun field testing in Alberta, Minnesota, Alaska, and Norway, where they are scattering a thin layer of hollow glass microspheres, more commonly known as silica over existing ice. Early results indicate these particles improve the reflectivity of sea ice, mimicking natural processes to reflect solar energy out of our atmosphere.
Proposal #3: Artificial Freshwater Icebergs: In 2019, A team led by Indonesian architectural designer Faris Rajak Kotahatuhaha proposed a submarine-like vessel which could re-freeze sea water to create modular hexagonal icebergs. These artificial icebergs would use a reverse osmosis process to desalinate and cast arctic sea water to remain frozen at higher temperatures.
These speculative solutions are integrated into an etched copper distiller, in which sulfurous water samples from oilfield tailing ponds was sifted through pyrite, (a premodern alchemical technique for making sulfuric acid), eventually etching and dissolving iron artifacts to produce a solution of iron sulfate - the active ingredient in ocean fertilization geoengineering projects. After sundown each night, this fluid was blended with the sea’s brackish waters, desalinated, finely misted to freeze over the vessel, and finally coated in reflective silica particles.
The raft’s copper floatation system was intricately etched with 16th C. arctic navigation maps, in which Nordic sea-monsters come into direct contact with large-scale geoengineering technologies, a final defense against the cascade effects of unintended consequences which might be unleashed by large scale geoengineering schemes, as they attempt to resurrect the pre-industrial Arctic landscape.
At its core, the science of geo-engineering attempts to mimic, accelerate, or amplify natural processes of carbon reduction using highly invasive means. These strategies form a dystopian contingency plan which, employed alongside mitigation efforts, strive to preserve a close approximation of our present ecosystem. Geo-engineering stands as a kind of messianic figure for the planet; proposing to wash away the sins of the Anthropocene. However, instead of practical geoengineering prototypes, my techno-solutions offer little more than time capsules, laying bare the folly of our desire to find salvation in the fine balance of strategic chemical spills, and proposing rituals which blend the sacred and scientific to question what kind of nature we hope to approximate within a techno-solutionist future.
Image: video still from Operation Habbakuk (2:45)
Operation Habbakuk was produced at MacDowell and ÖRES, through the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Finnish narration: Maria Pick
Engineering consulting: Shane Stock
Operation Habbakuk (2022)
Örö Island, Archipelago National Park, Finland
Narration by Maria Pick
22:55
Operation Habbakuk (video still, 1:34)
Operation Habbakuk (video still, 4:34)
In 1942, British inventor Geoffrey Pyke proposed an ambitious plan to develop a massive, ice-based aircraft carrier code-named Operation Habbakuk.
Soon after, a team of Canadian conscientious objectors were sent to Jasper National Park to develop a 1000-ton prototype that would utilize a new material called Pykrete - a mixture of wood pulp and ice, which was believed to be easily repairable and nearly unsinkable.
However, the project was eventually abandoned, and its remains now rest at the bottom of Patricia Lake.
Operation Habbakuk (video still: 16:44)
Operation Habbakuk (video still: 7:52)
Proposal #1: Accelerated Ice Thickening
In 2016, A team led by Arizona State University astrophysicist Steven Desch, proposed installing 10-million floating wind-powered water pumps in the Arctic. These pumps would bring warmer water up to the cooler surface, to re-freeze and thicken the existing ice by more than 1m per year. If implemented each winter, this thicker ice could withstand the rising temperatures experienced during warmer months.
Versions of this process have been used in the Arctic for decades to help shore up platforms for off-shore oil rigs.
Operation Habbakuk (video still, 9:52)
Proposal #2: Enhanced Reflectivity
Recently, Arctic Ice Project (previously Ice 911), led by Leslie Field, has begun field testing in Lake Miquelon, Alberta, Lake Elmo, Minnesota, Barrow, Alaska, and Trondheim, Norway, where they are scattering a thin layer of hollow glass microspheres, more commonly known as silica over existing ice. Early results indicate these particles improve the reflectivity of sea ice, mimicking natural processes to reflect solar energy out of our atmosphere and restore the Arctic.
Operation Habbakuk (video still, 11:20)
Operation Habbakuk (video still, 12:44)
Proposal #3: Artificial Freshwater Icebergs
In 2019, A team led by Indonesian architectural designer Faris Rajak Kotahatuhaha proposed a submarine-like vessel which could re-freeze sea water to create modular hexagonal icebergs. These artificial icebergs would be formed by using a reverse osmosis process to desalinate and cast arctic sea water to remain frozen at higher temperatures.
In further experiments, residual salts from this process may be recycled for use in molten-salt energy storage.
Operation Habbakuk (video still, 13:21)
Operation Habbakuk (video still, 15:09)
At its core, the science of geo-engineering attempts to mimic, accelerate, or amplify natural processes of carbon reduction using highly invasive means. These strategies form contingency plans which, employed alongside mitigation efforts, strive to preserve a close approximation of our present ecosystem. Geo-engineering stands as a kind of messianic figure for the planet; proposing to wash away the sins of the Anthropocene.
Operation Habbakuk (video still, 15:33)
These speculative solutions utilize a copper alembic, in which brackish water samples will sift through pyrite, a premodern alchemical technique for making sulfuric acid, eventually etching and dissolving iron fragments to produce a solution of iron sulfate - the active ingredient in ocean fertilization geoengineering projects.
After sundown each night, this fluid is desalinated and finely misted to freeze over the vessel, and finally coated in reflective silica particles.
Operation Habbakuk (video still, 17:12)
If initial testing proves successful, these technologies could be deployed in large scale efforts to maintain the present Arctic ecosystem.
Operation Habbakuk (video still, 18:26)
Some believe that these technologies could eventually be used to reverse anthropogenic climate change, and resurrect the pre-industrial Arctic landscape, when four ice-islands once surrounded a massive whirlpool and magnetic mountain - a system that regulated global currents until the 16th Century.
Even if successful, it will not be easy to restore the preindustrial Arctic. Evidence from 16th century Arctic navigation maps indicates that sea-monsters are likely to offer fierce resistance, defending the shores against large-scale geoengineering technologies. Perhaps this is a final defense against the cascade effects of unintended consequences which might be unleashed by these schemes.
Operation Habbakuk (video still, 20:41)
However, due to unanticipated rising temperatures, testing on Örö proved inconclusive, as the geoengineered ice formed by Operation Habbakuk was insufficiently resilient to withstand the sea currents.
Based on these new findings, our proposed technological adaptations may not keep pace with the accelerating pace of climate change, calling into question the feasibility of large-scale deployment of these climate engineering proposals.
A second test in the Bothnian Sea yielded more promising results, thickening at 3mm per hour during our test period.
Installation View: We will find salvation in strategic chemical spills
Galleria Ratamo, Jyväskylä, Finland
Installation View: We will find salvation in strategic chemical spills
Galleria Ratamo, Jyväskylä, Finland
Installation View: We will find salvation in strategic chemical spills
Galleria Ratamo, Jyväskylä, Finland
Installation View: We will find salvation in strategic chemical spills
Galleria Ratamo, Jyväskylä, Finland
Operation Habbakuk (Navigation Map)
etching on paper, hand colored with ink, copper sulfate, iron sulfate, and ferric chloride, 2022.
Etchings were pulled from copper float system of Operation Habbakuk
Operation Habbakuk (Navigation Map #1)
etching on paper, hand colored with ink, copper sulfate, iron sulfate, and ferric chloride, 2022.
Operation Habbakuk (Navigation Map #2)
etching on paper, hand colored with ink, copper sulfate, iron sulfate, and ferric chloride, 2022.
Operation Habbakuk (Navigation Map #3)
etching on paper, hand colored with ink, copper sulfate, iron sulfate, and ferric chloride, 2022.
Operation Habbakuk (Navigation Map #4)
etching on paper, hand colored with ink, copper sulfate, iron sulfate, and ferric chloride, 2022.
Operation Habbakuk (Navigation Map #5)
etching on paper, hand colored with ink, copper sulfate, iron sulfate, and ferric chloride, 2022.
Operation Habbakuk (Navigation Map #6)
etching on paper, hand colored with ink, copper sulfate, iron sulfate, and ferric chloride, 2022.
Operation Habbakuk (Navigation Map #7)
etching on paper, hand colored with ink, copper sulfate, iron sulfate, and ferric chloride, 2022.
Operation Habbakuk (Navigation Map #8)
etching on paper, hand colored with ink, copper sulfate, iron sulfate, and ferric chloride, 2022.
Operation Habbakuk (Navigation Map #8)
etching on paper, hand colored with ink, copper sulfate, iron sulfate, and ferric chloride, 2022.
Operation Habbakuk (Navigation Map #10)
etching on paper, hand colored with ink, copper sulfate, iron sulfate, and ferric chloride, 2022.
Prototype for a new ice age, display freezer, peltier cooler, reverse osmosis system, pump, etched copper, ice, pykrete, silica, iron sulfate, water sample from Arctic Ocean, 20”x20”x54”, 2023.
Prototype for a new ice age (detail)