Sediments
Artists:
Curator:
Photography:
- Jara van den Bosch
On show from 06.09.2024 to 26.10.2024A deep, layered connections between human activities and the landscapes we alter.
Nesie Junyi Wang (1998) — Rocks, roots, unearth 2024.
At the Dexing Copper Mine in China, copper mining has marked the landscape with infertility and toxicity. Despite these harsh conditions, mine workers have taken up part-time gardening on this very land, engaging in the almost paradoxical act of nurturing the soil that their primary occupation continues to degrade.
Exploring the interconnectedness between the miners and the land through this duality of mining and gardening, I delve into the complex exchanges between what people extract from the land and what the land, in its altered state, gives back. By engaging with the miners who have woven gardening into their lives, I seek to uncover the personal narratives that thread through their daily experiences, reflecting on their bond with the transformed land beneath their feet, and their collective struggle between economic reliance and environmental disruption.
Using a mixed-media approach that combines photography, video documentation, and copper plate etching prints made from tailing sand collected from the mine, this project investigates the interactions between human and nonhuman forces that are central to the landscape’s infertility
The film, In the Trace of Tilled Stones (20 min), offers a situated perspective that interweaves narratives of mining and gardening, showing how the miners interact with the landscape through both the extraction of ore and the cultivation of soil. As the miners share their reflections, the film captures the paradox of their dual roles, offering a grounded view for understanding generations tied to the mine by the industrialization of China.
Complementing the film, the copper etching prints transform the toxic remnants of mining into the material process of printmaking. Through the craft process of etching, the landscape is reproduced: ink made from the mining residuals is reintroduced into the engraved body of the copper plate, which is the end product of the mining. This process translates the paradox of the miners' labor, both in the garden and the mine. The printed images are not only about the photos they depict but also embody the materiality of the landscape of the mine.
Confronting the exploitative mining practices fueling the “green” energy transition.
The other side of the coin” is an installation that showcases the chemical transformation of nickel Dutch Guilders through the chemical process of electrolysis. The centrepiece is a transparent rectangular machine. The top part contains a bath filled with a green solution, from which corroding Guilders and a mould are suspended, while the bottom section is filled with rocks that mimic nickel ore. The machine transforms nickel Dutch Guilders into a new form of currency which pays tribute to the ongoing forms of resistance to the Indonesian nickel industry. Nickel is a crucial element for electronic vehicle battery production, pivotal in shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy. The project seeks to make visible how we are interconnected with exploitative mining practices, which are necessary for the ‘green’ transition.
The Sorowako mine, situated in the Sulawesi archipelago of Indonesia, is one of the world's largest nickel mines. Established in the early 20th century, the mine was initially part of the Netherlands' broader colonial plan to convert raw materials and labour from its colonies into profit. This colonial plan also played a significant role in shaping my own family. My grandfather Herman, having lost both parents after WWII, sought a new life for himself. The Dutch company Ruhaak & Co, which imported industrial machines to Indonesia and exported raw materials back to Europe, provided him with this ‘exotic’ life by appointing him as manager for the company in Surabaya, Indonesia. My family history, perhaps like yours, is an alloy of romance, industrialisation, material extraction, colonisation, and revolution, and shows how the geopolitics behind material extraction and ongoing dominant worldviews drill into the most personal moments of life.
Combining Glynn's present-day research on resistance with archival materials and electrolysis, The Other Side of the Coin transforms Dutch Guilders made from nickel into a new form of currency. By corroding the modernistic imagery of monarchy and capitalism on the Guilders and using Glynn’s images and texts, the work reveals the impacts faced by the Karonsi'e Dongi and Sorowako communities due to nickel mining. It challenges the invisibility of unjust relations in material extraction and exposes the often-overlooked influence of colonial structures on global supply chains.
Emphasising not only the destructive legacies that global industries leave behind but also how our history is intertwined with these exploitative practices.
Sediments is on show from 06.09.2024 to 26.10.2024.
Many gratitudes to the artists for being part of this exhibition.