Metal Sculptures around McMurdo
With another extra day to spare, since our flight to WAIS Divide had been cancelled again, Rachel invited me to join her on a walk around McMurdo to take pictures of metal sculptures that were scattered around the base.
One of the things I like most about McMurdo is that, the longer you are here, the more you notice quirky little things about the place that you didn't see before. It is like the people who are here leave a little hint of themselves, their creativity, and sense of humor behind for others to discover and have fun with later.
Rachel had always wanted to take a welding class, she told me, to be able to make things with metal, but hadn't gotten the chance yet.
On a previous walk, we had come across one sculpture. We decided to start there, and see where that led.
Try as she might, Rachel could not avoid being eaten by the great beast.
We had heard rumors of a gargoyle on top of a fuel storage tank. Although we didn't know which fuel tank, since there are several, Rachel thought she knew the general area, so we set off in that direction, all the way on the other side of base.
After snooping around some tanks and finding nothing, we decided to ask some of the employees ("Fuelies," as they are known), who were nearby. They told us that we were going in the wrong direction, and offered to walk us to where the actual statue was.
Go figure, it was very close to the whale.
The gargoyle guarded an unused fuel tank, kind of tucked away from view.
Before dropping us off, the Fuelies also told us about the statue of a skier on top of a hill up above the Gargoyle.
After a short climb, we were able to meet him as well. Rachel was instantly enamored by his long limbs and Reeses Peanut Butter Cup knee caps.
The final sculpture which we went to visit was just behind our dorm, under a bridge that led to Crary, the Science building.
I had seen this guy before, but only after Rachel had pointed him out to me. I wonder how many people cross over this bridge each day and don't notice it.
Besides being fun and quirky, I think having public art around McMurdo (or anywhere, for that matter) is really important to helping create a sense of place, beauty, and belonging for people, wherever they are. I can imagine that this sense is especially important here in Antarctica during the long, dark winters away from home.
For us, it was a morale booster, and a fun thing to do on a day when our flights disappointed us yet again.
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