The Second Fire
The Second Fire is an immersive look at Lake Baikal, the world’s oldest, deepest and most voluminous lake, located in Eastern Siberia. Created with the support of a Fulbright Scholar Grant, the project places a special emphasis on the Lake’s ecological problems, including growing levels of pollution and rapid climate change. Because it holds one-fifth of all the freshwater on the planet, one would think that every effort would be made to protect it. But tragically, the opposite is the case: the Russian government is now using the excuse of Western sanctions to intimidate environmentalists, remove the Lake’s protected status, and open up its shores to rampant development. Now is the time to call attention to this travesty, which affects everyone around the globe.
The title refers to an indigenous Buryat legend about the origins of Lake Baikal. According to this story, there was an enormous earthquake, fire came out of the earth, and native people cried “Bai, Gal!” or “Fire, stop!” in the Buryat language. The fire stopped, and water filled the crevice, creating the Sacred Sea, with its abundant, crystal clean water and uniquely diverse flora and fauna. Now, many scientific studies demonstrate that the Baikal region is one of the areas experiencing the most rapid increases in temperature in the world. Surface water temperatures at Lake Baikal have risen by 1.2 degrees Celsius since 1946. The warming of Baikal represents a “Second Fire” that threatens the Lake and the people who rely on it.
The project includes experimental photographs, multi-channel video, essays, original music, installation and performance. It plunges us into what noted Siberian author Valentin Rasputin called the “eternity and perfection” of the Sacred Sea, capturing its vastness and majesty, the intimate moments of its resilient people and quirky sites, and the urgency of the dangers that threaten them. In many cases, it uses a semi-abstract approach to universalize the subject matter and make clear that Baikal’s problems affect not only Russians, but everyone around the globe. Our goal is to significantly raise awareness of Baikal’s plight and inspire people everywhere to do more to safeguard the Lake -- and combat pollution and climate change.
Dawn Day Dusk
Dawn Day Dusk is a three channel video that focuses on the most pressing threats to Lake Baikal’s ecological health. Today, the Lake’s coastal areas face immediate threats from sewage, detergents and other pollutants. And the climate crisis has already thinned Baikal’s winter ice cover and diminished its duration, with negative impacts for many Lake organisms, from tiny diatoms to the world’s only true freshwater seal, the nerpa.
The video’s different screens symbolize three different periods in Baikal’s life. The left screen represents the origin of the precious and powerful Lake according to a Buryat myth (see above). The middle screen represents today’s Baikal, still mostly clear and pure, but facing real threats from climate change and pollution. And the right screen is a warning message about a future in which steps have not been taken to protect the Lake.
The video features original electronic music composed from scientific data about the impact of climate change on Lake Baikal. It also includes other important contributions from Russian and international scientists and artists. For more info, please see the acknowledgements below.
Embers and Effluents
Embers and Effluents is a second three-channel video focused on emerging threats that have the capacity to create a “feedback effect,” rapidly accelerating warming and environmental damage. Scientists know that these threats are approaching a tipping point more quickly than current climate modeling anticipates.
Vast territories of previously frozen permafrost are melting, discharging enormous quantities of carbon dioxide and methane. Rampant summer wildfires are causing dramatic loss of forested area. Widespread legal and illegal logging is also contributing to rapid deforestation. And as temperatures increase, the flow of the Lake’s tributaries is dwindling, reducing water quality and releasing additional methane.
The impacts of these pressing threats are already visible in a natural landscape that signals distress. Buildings buckle as permafrost vanishes. People choke on smoke from uncontrolled fires in the taiga, and they die when their homes are inundated by flash floods linked to deforestation. Buryat shamans correctly insist that the Sacred Sea is powerful and resilient. But true hope will only emerge if the world is able to embrace transformational change, avoiding the feedback effect and the worst impacts of climate change and pollution.
The video features original electronic music composed from scientific data about the impact of climate change on Lake Baikal. This and other aspects of the video were realized collaboratively. Please see the credits in the acknowledgements section below.
Music from Data: Voices of the Amphipods
Lensed devices are inadequate to the task of portraying Lake Baikal’s magical complexity, majestic beauty, and monstrous size. Instead, Baikal speaks most emphatically and completely in the sounds of its waves, wind, ice, birds, and animals -- and the medium that best captures its complexity is music.
As we read the many scientific studies by Russian and international scientists about climate change and other anthropogenic changes to its ecosystem, we became aware that these data points can be plotted as musical notes. We honed in on studies by Irkutsk State University about the effect of temperature changes on the amphipods, little crustaceans that are critical to the Lake’s health. The scientists’ work shows that amphipods unique to Baikal are comfortable at specific depths and temperatures, and may face danger or death if forced into different zones (see Preference Ranges Correlate with Stable Signals of Universal Stress Markers in Lake Baikal Endemic and Holarctic Amphipods).
We used data from this study, along with related data on temperature changes at the Lake, to create a series of original compositions. Different electronic instruments represent the stress response of several endemic and holarctic (non-endemic) species of amphipods as they are subjected to gradually increased temperatures. Higher notes represent increased stress response that may lead to a lethargic state or even death. In this way, the compositions provide a soundtrack for the growing body of scientific research — and a voice for underwater creatures whose plight might otherwise go unnoticed.
Exhibit in Irkutsk: The Ripple Effect
An exhibition of our experimental photographs and video, along with related sculptures created by Russian artists, was on display at the leading contemporary art gallery in Irkutsk, the Bronshteyn Gallery. Our selected artwork investigated the vast and precious Lake’s small details as seen through the eyes of local residents whose relationship to the Lake is profound and intimate. It relied heavily on the power of indigenous myths, and it drew a parallel between those legends and the challenges the Lake faces today.
It was easy to create a meaningful dialogue between the sculptures, all concerned with Baikal’s life-giving waters, and our own work. Native people in the Baikal region believe that all elements of the natural world are alive, interconnected, and must be respected. Consistent with our approach, many of the sculptures reference the modern impact of humans on the environment, noting the potential for harm when we do not value our surroundings.
This dialogue was the inspiration for the exhibit’s title. The Dalai Lama has said, “Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped in the water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects.” This phenomenon is known as “the ripple effect.” Fortunately, there is a growing awareness of the importance of Lake Baikal’s precious water and its surrounding habitat. As we face the twin threats of climate change and anthropogenic pollution, we must all ask ourselves, “What kind of ripple will I create?
Cyberian Dispatches
Our year-long sojourn in Siberia offered many chances to experience Baikal’s splendor and mystical beauty in every season. It also offered ample opportunities to interact with Russian scientists, artists, ecologists, native Buryats and Evenks, and others who have an intimate and profound relationship with what is likely the most important Lake in the world. All along the way, we were recording the most salient events in our ongoing blog, Cyberian Dispatch.
Acknowledgements
In addition to those mentioned above, many organizations and individuals went out of their way to welcome us and to support our project.
We would like to pay special tribute to the Fulbright Program, especially Fulbright Russia’s extraordinary Director, Joel Ericson, and Program Officer Marina Bezrukova.
We would also like to express our gratitude to Irkutsk National Research Technical University, the Baikal Museum, Irkutsk State University, and the Bronshteyn Gallery.
Our three-channel videos titled “Day Dawn Dusk” and “Embers and Effluents” were created in close collaboration with Russian and international scientists and artists. They include: images of solar oscillations shared by Andrey Chelpanov of the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics; footage of underwater life courtesy of the Baikal Museum’s live web-cams; recordings of Baikal’s ice cracking by Andre Fevre; and native bird calls captured by Professor B.N. Veprintsev. Original electronic music was created from scientific data about the impact of rising temperatures on Baikal’s amphipods collected by Irkutsk State University. The music was also produced in collaboration with experimental composer and musician Evgeniy Masloboev. The artists also wish to thank Elizaveta Kudlik and Igor Levant, who read data from the world’s longest environmental monitoring project.
We also wish to acknowledge the penetrating and insightful assistance with photo editing provided by Sarah Leen.
We would not have been able to complete The Second Fire without the outstanding help of Vitaly Baltaev, Natalya Bencharova, Todd Forsgren, Ilya Ipatov, Yulia Kolomina, Valery Kondakov, Assia Kontrimovich, Evgeny Mariasov, Roman Mikhailov, Marianne Moore, Vladimir Munkhanov, Anya Ogorodnikova, Tatiana Platitsina, Marina Rikhvanova, Mikhail Rybalko, Vitaly Ryabtsev, Anna Sirina, Jennie Sutton, Ekaterina Timokova, Maxim Vorontsev, and many others who helped us encounter Baikal and rise to its creative challenge.
Finally, we pay our sincere respects to the local spirits of the Baikal region.