The freezing of a Chevy Nova by two artists is going slower than expected.
Read more: Local
HOUGHTON -- They've spent the past month planning and hoping for freezing temperatures.
Two artists who are freezing a Chevy Nova at Michigan Tech during Winter Carnival say progress is happening, but slowly. They also say they have learned plenty through the process.
"We had to find the right ratio between this mist and the temperature in order to build the crust," said Sue Wrbican of George Mason University. "We just thought, you put water in and it will freeze and guess what? That doesn't work."
The two artists, Sue Wrbican and Mary Carothers from the University of Louisville, are freezing the Nova to hypothetically "suspend" what they call the struggle between culture, driving, nature, and the consumption of resources.
The two Art Professors on sabbatical chose Michigan Tech, because Michigan is the birthplace of the automobile. Furthermore, they are freezing the vehicle on an angle, so it appears as though it is moving.
"So as the ice goes over it, it will either look like it's emerging, or it's a sinking ship, depending on your perspective and how you look at it," said Carothers.
Wrbican and Carothers, along with the Hancock High School Shop Class, started pouring an ice base to set the car on two weeks ago. However, a leak in the back of the tank and warmer temperatures the past few days have slowed down the ice building.
Wrbican continued, "When the temps drop, we hope that we'll be able to freeze at least an inch at a time, several times a day, until we gain some speed."
Currently, the ice is about two feet thick, however, it needs to be closer to six feet thick before it can be finished. The question is, when will that be?
"We know it's going to freeze eventually; we just don't know when eventually is," said Carothers.
The artists hope to have the tires covered by the end of Winter Carnival. Also, they plan to stay in Houghton until the end of February. The ice block, as they hope, will be put on a train and sent to Detroit to thaw this coming Spring.
