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Over the past decade Ice Follies has become a signature event for both North Bay, and the Northeastern region as a whole. Ice Follies appears to the visitor as a strange assemblage of dwellings and structures placed in a very wide semi-circle (or arc) out across the ice that is adjacent to the Government Dock and the Goulet Golden Mile walking path along North Bay’s waterfront. This eccentric community of artworks and architectures echoes the “communities” of ice fishing shacks found elsewhere on the lake. Video installations, sound-generating structures, assemblages of solar lights, ice letters and even working carousels have been erected in previous Ice Follies exhibitions. Ice Follies 2012 will be the fifth biennial of site specific multi-disciplinary artwork to take place on Lake Nipissing, and the first to be presented by Ice Follies Biennial Incorporated.
From the beginning, the artistic vision of Ice Follies has been to unite the arts organizations and general public of North Bay together through the presentation of a series of outdoor art installations on frozen Lake Nipissing. This 400 square kilometre lake is an amazing “site” for the creation and presentation of artwork; it is an expansive alien world of ice and sky that is accessible to all audiences and only a short distance from North Bay’s downtown core.
Through Ice Follies 2012, representatives of North Bay’s arts community will advance the knowledge of contemporary visual arts and address the need for an increase in the public’s understanding and appreciation of contemporary art. Additionally, Ice Follies 2012 will bring the best in site-specific art to our region to further this important medium of expression. White Water Gallery (WWG), Near North Mobile Media Lab (N2M2L) and Aanmitaagzi Storymakers (Aanmitaagzi) are committed to the artistic vision of Ice Follies, and have formed a collaborative partnership to ensure its continued success.