Land of diatoms
12.2016 — On-going
Suelo vivo: Stones, soil, lime / Diatoms / Misc. materials (wood, fibers, metal) / Printed Matter
︎︎︎ Work developed in collaboration w/ Inés Cámara Leret + María Boto Ordóñez — Project enabled by Laboratorio 987 at MUSAC — w/ Estrella Alfaro + Saúl Blanco from Laboratory of Diatomology at the University of León
Land of diatoms is a hybrid research project which begun in 2016, soon incorporating ethnobotanist Dr. Estrella Alfaro and diatomologist Dr. Saúl Blanco in its development. The project explores relationships between the territory of Castile and León and its people through the study of diatoms as metaphor, to establish a dialogue, trace historical events and discuss existing and desirable narratives of the earth, its waters and its inhabitants.
The project explores the creation of its own research tools, starting from simple materials and extending beyond scientific protocols -from vernacular knowledge linked to traditional architecture to the tools used by a water diviner or the use of a scanning electron microscope within the scientific laboratory- to stage various interventions and approximations to collective and individual ways of understanding the territory, its uses and misuses.
Providing visibility to the daily experiences and life of the microscopic world on which we walk, the work attempts to activate the memory of traditional ways of doing and knowing, whilst revisiting stories of migration.
︎︎︎ Imagen SEM de las diatomeas del canal de Castilla, conocido como “las Lágrimas de Riaño”
︎︎︎ Instalación Suelo vivo (2017). MUSAC
︎︎︎ Antigua restauración de la Plaza del Grano, León, recuperando el empedrado tradicional
