Archives of the Earth (AE) is a site-specific research performance which consists of the simultaneous act of on-site printmaking and text writing. The project sets out to rethink the possibilities and intentions of contemporary landscape archiving. It reflects on alternatives of image creation through visions, the connection between the archive and the archiver and its implication on the data retrieved. In its vision, the AE creates print and text work that sample locations of volcanic activity. The project captures the volcano’s ambience and preserves a still of its existence within a dynamic environment.
With every eruption, a volcano seals up a multitude of specimens under volcanic rock while adding new material to the layers of earth. An airtight natural archive, it allows the visiting observer a mere peak onto its most recent state. How do we capture the essence of environments that are subject to change? What data can we collect to document the impression such a site provides at different points in time? How does the archivist relate to its subject and the emerging collection?
AE takes a careful look at the earth beneath our feet and the landscape that extends in front of our eyes. It translates and archives a moment in time we depart from, applying a close look from inside ourselves into nature. Nature - a profoundly ambivalent concept. Beyond the multiple reasons that drive us to stop and capture a moment and place for the future, we inquire: What is nature? What is landscape? What is the human body? What is more-than-human? What is technology? And where do we draw the conceptual lines that separate these entities?
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Writing device and carriage system developed in collaboration with engineer Elmar Matt and craftswoman Claudia Ebster
Device: 100% leftover wood, car seatbelts, backpack strips and clips
Carriage System: Upcycled furniture fabric, backpack strip and clip
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Print device and carriage system developed in collaboration with engineer Elmar Matt and craftswoman Claudia Ebster
Device: 100% leftover wood, car seatbelts, backpack strips and clips
Carriage System: Upcycled furniture fabric, backpack strip and clip
Where do we depart each time we embark on the action of archiving and who is this figure: the archiver? As much as the landscape is as alive and in transformation as humans - the archiver is always a strange oracle, a receptor, a translator of its position in time and space. When critically reflecting on the anthropocentric view of the separation of humankind and nature, when looking at the evanescent volcanic landscapes and their earth machines, we tend to believe an archiver to be an artist in vivid conversation with the tune of nature.
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Print of the ARCHIVES OF THE EARTH Reykanes, pigment print on fine art paper
Wednesday, 09.02.2023, 12:05:30
Seltun, Iceland
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Writing of the ARCHIVES OF THE EARTH Reykanes, ink on typewriter paper, 09.02.2023
Wednesday, 09.02.2023, 12:05:30, Seltun, Iceland
Archives of the Earth departs from an encounter between Christoph Matt, eco-social designer, Isadora Alves, artist and the expertise of associated scientists and researchers.
February 2023
Hugarflug Design Conference, expert talk, Reykjavik, Iceland
February 2023
Westfjords University, guest lecture + workshops, Isafjordur, Iceland
April 2023
Motiva art festival, expert talk, panel discussion, Biberach, Germany
November 2023
HDK-Valand, guest lecture, workshop, Reykjavik, Iceland
November 2023
Iceland University of the Arts, guest lecture, workshop, Reykjavik, Iceland
November 2023
Hafnar.haus Another View, publication launch, Reykjavik, Iceland
December 2023
Cambridge Journal of Visual Culture, publication feature, Cambridge, England
December 2023
Archipelago exhibition, in collaboration with HDK-Valand, Iceland University of the Arts, publication exhibit, Reykjavik, Iceland
January 2024
Leica Gallery, practice presentation, in collaboration with Buero Ludwina, Vienna, Austria
March 2024
Corrispondenze Magazine 3, in collaboration with HDK-Valand, Iceland University of the Arts, Buero Ludwina, Turin, Italy
For collaboration requests and further inquiries regarding our project, the archive, its print and writing pieces, please use the contact details below.
