NOAH STERLING THOMPSON
  • Paper-Thin Memories
  • Echoes
  • A Tale of the Hemlock
  • Arboreal Studies
  • Odysseys of Arcadia
    • Statement & Index
    • 390-86-81-476-76
    • 34-5-84-205
    • 101 N-20
    • 20-101 N
    • NE 193-50-895-95-76
  • Prophecies of Arcadia
  • Memories of Arcadia
  • Incorporeality
  • The Idylls
  • Cities of Ash
  • Artifacts In the Waters of Time
  • Microcosmic
  • The Polari Gang (The Code)
  • Studio Writings
  • About/Contact
  • CV
  • Paper-Thin Memories
  • Echoes
  • A Tale of the Hemlock
  • Arboreal Studies
  • Odysseys of Arcadia
    • Statement & Index
    • 390-86-81-476-76
    • 34-5-84-205
    • 101 N-20
    • 20-101 N
    • NE 193-50-895-95-76
  • Prophecies of Arcadia
  • Memories of Arcadia
  • Incorporeality
  • The Idylls
  • Cities of Ash
  • Artifacts In the Waters of Time
  • Microcosmic
  • The Polari Gang (The Code)
  • Studio Writings
  • About/Contact
  • CV
All content © Noah S. Thompson 2023
What happened in the sea of time
when we were all gathered together
cohesive, cold, crystal clear?
Now we drift apart, for safety, in sorrow
for how much our journey wasn’t supposed to be

and we are lost in the blueness of what would be?

We are lost in the waters, drifting, many  drowning
as we cling to the frigid surface, held aloft by uncertainty
of what chaos the next wave will bring.
It seems in the end we will break and float away
cradled in the cold embrace of the sea
and wait for the day we can all return. 


When will we come back to our crystal island,
none can say for sure, and all we can do
is lend a hand to turn the wheel of fate.
Eventually, little by little, we will come
together under the shimmering, sunlit sea

a cluster of fragments, broken, but not alone.


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What do we do with the time we have? It is both a blessing and a curse to be aware of how our days pass by, like watching the ice cubes in a glass melt in the summer sun. You cannot fish them out, and rushing inside to put them in the freezer would only delay the inevitable. In the meantime, you’ve lost interest in your drink, abandoning your current pleasure in favor of trying to prevent the future from happening. Now, not every situation translates to the moment of having a cool drink, but the principle is the same. There are certain, small things that cannot be avoided, and are a natural part of life, and worrying about them distracts us from the bigger pictures, the glaciers, if you will, that are melting at an alarming rate. Yes, this refers to the polar caps as well as the larger issues that quite literally plague the world.

This series of photograms is made entirely with ice in varying amounts, from a solitary cube to a cascade of fragments (which requires a thank you to local grocery stores for allowing people to buy minimal to questionable amounts of ice). Sometimes I would rearrange a few pieces, sliding them across the paper as if I were drawing with charcoal, but more often than not I would simply sit and watch the ice melt on its own, and slowly drift across the blueish-grey surface like an iceberg, leaving a glimmering, watery trail in its wake. Seeing this transformation, the miniature adventures of the unavoidable, is a reminder and an exercise to make the most of time. It’s not how time much you have, although much time is tragically lost, but what you do with it that matters. The melting ice caps and lives lost to the pandemic and injustice were and are preventable situations, and while we may feel powerless on our own to change things, even the smallest action can help turn the wheels of fate.
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  • Paper-Thin Memories
  • Echoes
  • A Tale of the Hemlock
  • Arboreal Studies
  • Odysseys of Arcadia
    • Statement & Index
    • 390-86-81-476-76
    • 34-5-84-205
    • 101 N-20
    • 20-101 N
    • NE 193-50-895-95-76
  • Prophecies of Arcadia
  • Memories of Arcadia
  • Incorporeality
  • The Idylls
  • Cities of Ash
  • Artifacts In the Waters of Time
  • Microcosmic
  • The Polari Gang (The Code)
  • Studio Writings
  • About/Contact
  • CV