Ice and snow sculpture

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Ice and snow sculpture
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Ice and snow sculpture

• Ice sculpture is a form of sculpture that uses
  ice as the raw material. Sculptures from ice can
  be abstract or realistic and can be functional or
  purely decorative. Ice sculptures are generally
  associated with special or extravagant events
  because of their limited lifetime. The lifetime
  of a sculpture is determined primarily by the
  temperature of its environment and thus, a
  sculpture can last from mere minutes to possibly
  months.

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Ice and snow sculpture

• The raw material
• Sculpting ice presents a number of difficulties
  due to the peculiarities of the material. Ice
  must be carefully selected to be suitable for the
  sculptor's purposes and should be free of
  undesired impurities. Typically, ideal carving
  ice is made from pure, clean water. Clear ice is
  mostly the result of slow freezing that allows
  impurities to escape. Certain machines and
  processes allow for slow freezing and the removal
  of impurities and therefore are able to produce
  the clear blocks of ice that are favored by ice
  carvers.

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Ice and snow sculpture

• Techniques
• The temperature of the environment affects how
  quickly the piece must be completed to avoid the
  effects of melting. If the sculpting does not
  take place in a cold environment, then the
  sculptor must work quickly to finish his piece.
  Some sculptures can be completed in as little as
  ten minutes if the carver is using power tool
  such as chainsaws.
• As various technologies are adapted for use with
  ice carving, many sculptures are now created
  largely by machine. Such machines and molding
  systems are now commonly used to create ice
  sculptures and complicated logos from ice. Color
  effects are also possible by a number of
  techniques, including the addition of colored
  dyes, gels or sand to the ice.

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Ice and snow sculpture

• Ice sculpture around the world
• There are several ice festivals held around the
  world, hosting competitions of ice sculpture
  carving.
• China
• In China, Heilongjiang Province is the most
  significant region for ice sculpture. The most
  famous event is the increasingly popular
  International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival
  held annually in Harbin. The festival has
  consistently increased in size over the years,
  with more talented artists involved and more
  impressive techniques and pieces on show. Ice
  sculpture decoration ranges from the modern
  technology of lasers to traditional ice lanterns.
  The climate of Heilongjiang is very cold and ice
  is abundant. Objects of all sizes appear, up to
  and including building-sized pieces.

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Ice and snow sculpture

• The USA
• (Fairbanks, Alaska)
• Since 1989, Alaska has hosted the annual World
  Ice Art Championships. Nearly 100 sculptors come
  from around the world to sculpt large blocks of
  pure natural ice. The event is run almost
  exclusively by volunteers.
• In a typical year, more than 45,000 spectators
  pass through the gates of the Ice Park home of
  the World Ice Art Championships. The competition
  is broken down into two main categories Single
  Block and Multi-Block and each competition is
  further separated into Abstract and Realistic
  sculptures. One of the most popular attractions
  is the Kids Park where children of all ages can
  glide down ice slides or spin in ice rotating
  tops.

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Ice and snow sculpture

• Canada
• The Ice Castle at the International Ice Sculpture
  Competition and Exhibition 2005, Lake Louise,
  Alberta
• In Canada, Quebec City, Quebec holds an ice
  sculpture festival each year during the Quebec
  City Winter Carnival. The sculpture festival
  lasts about three weeks. For the sheer variety of
  ice sculptures and the number of visitors, the
  Quebec festival is regarded by some as the best
  in the world. Each year about twenty teams are
  chosen to participate in the competition. Half of
  these teams come from Canada and the others come
  from other countries. Ice sculpting started to
  become important in Quebec in the 1880s!

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Ice and snow sculpture

• Each year Lake Louise, located in Banff National
  Park holds a 3 day event called Ice Magic in the
  third weekend of January. Professional carvers
  are invited to compete in this event staged in
  the shadow of the glacier Mt. Victoria. Twelve
  teams of three carvers are given 15 blocks of ice
  which they must transform into ice sculptures in
  three days. Weather permitting, the sculptures
  will remain on display through March.

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Ice and snow sculpture

• Japan
• The Japanese city of Sapporo on the island of
  Hokkaido is famous for its winter carnival, in
  which teams compete to create ice sculptures.
  Some of these creations are the size of
  multiple-story buildings.
• Russia
• An annual competition is held at Moscow's Gorky
  Park, Perm Gorky Park, in Salekhard and other
  cities.

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Ice and snow sculpture

• Snow sculpture is a sculpture form comparable to
  sand sculpture or ice sculpture in that most of
  it is now practiced outdoors, and often in full
  view of spectators. The materials and the tools
  differ widely, but often include hand tools such
  as shovels, hatchets, and saws. Snow sculptures
  are usually carved out of a single block of snow
  about 6 to 15 feet on each side and weighing
  about 20 30 tons. The snow is densely packed
  into a form after having been produced by
  artificial means or collected from the ground
  after a snowfall.

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Ice and snow sculpture

• Since 1973 there has been an international snow
  sculpture contest during the Quebec City Winter
  Carnival and more recently the Winterlude
  celebrations (in Ottawa) have had snow sculpture
  events. Many U.S. states hold their own
  competitions with a national event being held in
  Lake Geneva, Wisconsin each year. Perm, Russia
  Breckenridge, Colorado Sapporo, Japan
  Frankenmuth, Michigan, and the Harbin
  International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival
  also host snow sculpting events. The Saint Paul
  Winter Carnival which hosts snow and ice carving
  competitions is the oldest annual winter carnival
  in the world, with the first one being held in
  1886!

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Ice and snow sculpture
More ice and snow sculptures
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Ice and snow sculpture
More ice and snow sculptures