90° South (2010)
In his essay "Nonorganic life" Manuel DeLanda attempts to conceptualize the notion of nonorganic life showing that matter (organic or non inorganic) self-organize itself in non-stable equilibriums when facing critical points or "bifurcations". The emergent organization is one model of many that exists as potential in a reservoir called the machinic phylum. Following Deleuze and Guattari the machinic phylum is "materiality, natural or artificial, and both simultaneously; it is matter in movement, in flux", matter as phase transitions and emergent properties.
90° South was largely inspired by DeLanda's essay. Utilizing a highly absorbent material (Sodium Polyacrylate Superabsorvent Polymer - commercialized as artificial snow) that expands forty times when mixed with water a system of irrigation was created under a circular surface covered by a thin layer of the material. The irrigation system pours water into the surface at different rhythms. Due to the action of water on the powder, a global shape emerges in time. This shape formally resembles the undulations of a territory with the subtle motion of a geological flow. A flashlight attached to a mechanism revolves around the surface casting the shadows of the emerging landscape into the walls of the gallery. The contemplative point of view proposed by the installation allows us to witness and be immersed in the constant evolution of the system in its growth.
photos - click to enlarge
