Space-age art commissioned for futuristic luxury resort in Antarctica

Pioneers of luxury travel in Antarctica, White Desert, announces a partnership with acclaimed British-American artist Anthony James. The Executive Magazine takes a closer look at the space exploration inspired sculptures.
Picture of Aleks Bond

Aleks Bond

Luxury Travel Editor at The Executive Magazine

White Desert Announces Collaboration with Artist Anthony James; Sculptures to be Featured at Company’s Newest Antarctica Luxury Eco-Camp, ECHO. The artist’s work will be featured in White Desert’s newest camp, ‘Echo,’ a stylish, modern eco-camp inspired by space exploration.  The camp is scheduled to open in December 2022.

Titled 60″ Rectified Truncated Cuboctahedron (Solar Black), the piece is from James’ Portals series. The artist is known for monumental sculptures contemplating the physical and metaphysical. His three-dimensional Pythagorean geometric sculptures are made with cutting-edge technology and centuries-old craft. The Antarctica installation will mark a milestone for James, as the project will establish his work on all seven continents. 

Anthony James will be the first of a new art series for White Desert. The nine limited art installations created from this collaboration will serve as a platform to address the issue of climate change and sustainability. As part of the collaboration with James, 20% of the proceeds of subsequent sales of these limited-edition pieces will be donated to White Desert’s sustainability projects.

The sculpture will be transported from Los Angeles via Cape Town, South Africa, and loaded onto an A340 aircraft, making the journey to Echo. “The partnership with Anthony James is an ideal collaboration for White Desert as his unique and thoughtful artwork is fitting for a location such as Antarctica and its breathtaking expanse,” says White Desert Founder Patrick Woodhead.  

White Desert Chief Marketing Officer Mindy Roberts adds, ‘’We are thrilled to be working with Anthony to showcase his spectacular artwork at Echo. We want to use this platform to create awareness of sustainability and interconnectedness. We are committed to these notions and see art and travel having a unique power to change people’s perception of the world, and hopefully their subsequent actions within it.”

Inspired by the seminal age of Space exploration, Echo Base sits in quiet solitude encircled by pitted rock formations. Echo is as close as one can get to feel like being on another planet without leaving Earth. The ‘Sky Pods’ space-age design seems like they’ve been transported from a distant world. Futuristic and luxurious, the six bedrooms are created from composite fiberglass with floor-to-ceiling windows allowing guests to soak in the moon-like landscape beyond. As with all White Desert’s camps, Echo is designed to be dismantled, leaving no trace on the Antarctic landscape.

White Desert is also excited to share they will launch an Art Expedition journey, with Anthony James leading a trip to Antarctica, during the 2023/24 season.

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