WE ARE ALL CONNECTED
WE ARE ALL CONNECTED
Antofagasta is a remote industrial town in Northern Chile, capital of a vast territory that includes the driest desert on Earth. What an adventure to be invited by the Fundacion SACO for a 5-week artist residency to create new, site-specific work informed by the region's distinctive culture, history, and geology for exhibition in the Semana de Arte Contemporáneo biennial!
Moon & Vulture – Las Ruinas de Huanchaca – Antofagasta, Chile – 2024
Amongst many things, the Atacama Desert is home to some of the planet's oldest organisms. These complex ecosystems have survived for over three billion years in the intense heat and salinity of salt lakes on the Atacama Plateau. Offering great promise for developing climate resilient technologies, these remarkable life forms now face a human-caused existential threat.
Laguna Miscanti (Salt Lake) – Multispectral Exposure – Atacama Desert, Chile – 2024
You see, the Antofagasta region is also deeply impacted by centuries of intensive mining – first silver, then guano, saltpeter, copper, and now a massive rush to expand lithium production. Each boom and bust cycle has marked the landscape with countless abandoned towns and mines – each a time capsule of lives lived and choices made.
Oficina Salitrera Iberia (Mining Town Ruins) – Antofagasta Region, Chile – 2024
I shared the epic journey with my friend Jack Eidt, journalist and executive producer/co-host of the nationally syndicated EcoJustice Radio. Jack and I are already working on a multi-part series exploring lithium extraction at California's Salton Sea, soon to be syndicated on PBS SoCal.
We will contrast the nascent lithium boom in the United States with large and growing operations already underway on the Atacama Plateau – plans that place enormous strain on both regions' Indigenous communities and ecosystems. The story is fascinating and well worth considering as we determine our own environmental future and legacy. Stay tuned.
Selfie with writer Jack Eidt and eminent scientist/environmental advocate Dr. Cristina Dorador – University of Antofagasta, Chile – 2024
Meanwhile, two fantastic shows closing soon in the LA area: the 52nd Annual Exhibition of Works on Paper juried by Shana Nys Dambrot at the Brand Library and Art Center (closing reception: Friday, August 9, 5-7pm), and Feeling Blue at Von Lintel Gallery (thru August 3). Both exhibits also feature my talented friend Miles Regis, and by alphabetical serendipity, our work appears on adjacent pages of the Brand exhibition catalog.
Refetoff / Regis – The Brand 52nd Annual Exhibition of Works on Paper Catelog – 2024
MORE ON THE COSMOS TO FOLLOW SHORTLY ✨
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