Pierre Huyghe A Journey That Wasn't

On February 9, 2005, seven artists and ten crew members set sail from the Port of Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego, the southeast point of Argentina. Their journey centered on a search for an unknown island and an encounter with a unique solitary creature that was rumored to live only on the shores of an unnamed island somewhere at the height of the Polar Antarctic Circle.

This adventure is the first part of a film. The second part, the representation of the adventure, takes place in New York City. A Journey That Wasn’t is an orchestral musical in Central Park based on this journey to Antarctica. Using ice, atmosphere, light, and an original score—written by composer Joshua Cody and performed live on the ice by a symphonic orchestra—Pierre Huyghe (b. 1962, Paris, France) transforms the distant island in Antarctica into musical form. New York–based composer and guitarist Elliott Sharp will be a featured soloist and musical collaborator on the project.

This event is both a presentation and a film shoot. Viewers are invited to sit and watch the show, which will be presented three times in a row. Each time lasts under 30 minutes and may include pauses to reshoot. The filming records both the show and the audience members who watch it, so that those present witness the spectacle and become extras in the resulting film. Audience members are encouraged to wear dark or neutral-colored clothing.

The event, organized in collaboration with the Whitney Museum of American Art, will become part of a new film by Pierre Huyghe that will premiere in the 2006 Whitney Biennial.