Based in Luleå in northern Sweden, Tim Linhart, an ice artist and musician, has created an orchestra of instruments made from ice. His ‘ICEstruments’ include a violin, viola, cello, double bass, banjo, mandolin, guitar, drums and xylophone.
An igloo ‘ICE Concert Hall’ has been specially constructed to provide good acoustics and it has a ventilation system for removing the warmth generated by the audience of 170 people. This is vitally important because, if the temperature rises above -5 degrees centigrade, there is a risk that the instruments can melt.
Some of the instruments have to be suspended from the ceiling to avoid the body heat of the performers. And even the breath from a musician can cause an instrument to have to be re-tuned after a performance.
The 53-year-old musician, who moved to Sweden 10 years ago, carves the ICEstruments by hand before adding strings and frets. During the performance the instruments are lit-up in spectacular glowing colours which represent the northern lights.
This is not the first time a musician has constructed ice instruments. The Norwegian-based composer Terje Isungset, who records on the ECM label, has enthralled audiences with his bizarre ice instrument inventions.
Photos: Graeme Richardson