Geology of the Body and Land
Geology of the Body and Land, 2022
Waves
Clay, ceramics, sand, plywood, paint
400 cm x 400 cm x 6 cm
Wondering: Love
Ceramics, steel wire, wire locks
Size variable
Moving Through
Arctic clay, sand, sawdust, jute fibre, plywood, wooden beams, screws, LED lights
400 cm x 290 cm x 252 cm
Homecoming
Text on Munken Kristall, 200gsm, nails
Commissioned by Röda Sten Konsthall, Gothenburg, Sweden
The project Geology of the Body and Land consists of three major works and a text piece, created specifically for the site of Röda Sten Konsthall's so called Cathedral. Each of the three installations is inspired by a different layer of the pelvic floor. Located at the centre of our bodies the pelvic floor is both central for our entire posture and the process of birth. It is a place where new life coming into being passes through.
The first element, Waves, repeats over and over a powerful undulating movement. The floor installation’s clay parts have been burnished in a long meditative process. This technique is an ancient tradition in which clay is polished to a sheen. It creates reflective surfaces that interact with the light in the Cathedral.
Wandering further, the second element – a hanging installation – invites to raise the gaze. Uplifting and hovering ceramic bars form Wondering: Love. Multiple layers open up to different perspectives of the inconceivable and the new.
The third element, Moving Through, is a chamber construction displaying ancient clay coming directly from the depth of the Arctic sea-floor. The arctic clay was provided by researcher Julek Chawarski, collected during the 2021 Synoptic Arctic Survey Expedition aboard Swedish research ship ‘Oden’. The reduced light inside the passageway enhances the olfactory experience of this unique clay and is an invitation to connect with the essence of time. Witnessing life’s transitions.
The three elements are connected by the poem Homecoming. At its core the project Geology of the Body and Land arches through life-forming processes that connect us to past, present and future.
Photos © Hendrik Zeitler