[27] Greenland Memories - Abstract

Juergen Merz

[27 Greenland Memories]

In 2025, I traveled to Greenland for the first time. Despite my experience from several trips to Iceland in the far north, I realized that many things are different in Greenland.
Many places cannot be reached without a boat or helicopter. Above all, however, the dimensions are so much larger than in Iceland.
On this page, I collect some of the abstract impressions from this first trip to various places. These were both the Ilulissat Ice Fjord and the Eqi Glacier. Classic tourist destinations, but that doesn't mean there aren't wonderful abstract things to discover there.

Icebergs, icebergs, icebergs as far as the eye can see. In all shapes, colors, and sizes. The light and atmosphere often change within minutes, creating landscapes that feel like you've entered a parallel world.

Although some of the icebergs are already floating in the sea, the bay and the ice field itself shield the icebergs from the waves. When there is little wind, the water surface becomes very calm and acts as a mirror. When fog rolls in, images of unique beauty are created.

At the snout of the Ilulissat Ice Fjord, icebergs pile up to form a gigantic landscape of ice and snow. From the surrounding hills, you can enjoy a wonderful view of these surreal formations and you can then set out in search of abstract structures.

Accessible only by boat or helicopter, you travel along the coast of Greenland to the wonderful Eqi glacier. The glacier still calves directly into the sea, and a constant cracking and crashing reminds you that the ice from inland is constantly pushing into the sea. The front of the glacier is over three kilometers wide and almost 200 meters high. The ship in front of the glacier shows the real dimensions.

The Eqi Glacier area is only easily accessible between June and September. The midnight sun bathes the fjord in a soft light, and you can still see the pack ice that is present there in mid-June. At the bottom left, a glacier river flows into the sea, and the delta, with its abstract structures, is reminiscent of formations familiar from Iceland.

While in Iceland sediments and volcanic ash often transform glacier deltas into abstract landscapes, in Greenland it is only sediment. Nevertheless, structures and patterns also form there into an abstract composition by Mother Nature. The glacier delta with its abstract structures lies at the other end of the bay of the Eqi Glacier.

Dimensions are the big difference to Iceland. While icebergs also float around in the glacier lagoons there, Greenland's icebergs are many times larger. Icebergs the size of several football fields and sometimes hundred meters high float around in the fjords and coastal areas. The abstract shapes are endless.