nexus
Time and space were once curled together to the
extent that neither of them existed, but nevertheless, suddenly, somehow, a
bubble appeared; an explosion occurred simultaneously everywhere and every
single particle of matter dispersed as the void separated them all. As the universe continued to
expand, the temperature fell sufficiently in order for the first elements to
form, which they swiftly did, and thus set off a chain of metamorphoses that
has continued ever since. Consequently it can be argued that all matter has
always been in existence, although in various states and degrees of
organization, and has, on a cosmic scale, always amounted to the same quantity;
nothing can be added and nothing can be subtracted. The universe is in possession of such immense
quantities of matter, space and time, it is possible, through changes caused by
transformations, to try out endless combinations, resulting in the current huge
number of structures ranging from amino acids to galaxy clusters. The story of
a specific speck of matter is thus the story of these spontaneous structures
and their altered states.
“Machine”. Peter
Adolphsen.
Dummy. Six copies edition, 26,5 x 20 cm, 106 pages. 2018.
It all started with a chance finding of the text “We originated in the Belly of a Star” by Segio Toporek and as well as that, the fact that I discovered a test tube where my mother had saved the milk teeth that my brother and I had lost as children. These two factors, the text and the teeth, triggered the creative process that has lasted about three years and in which, on the one hand, I began taking photographic notes and, on the other hand, I started to collect materials that came off of my body: hairs, skin, nails, and the record of my body's acidity level. An extensive collection, bidirectionally focused that continued to grow; I didn't know where it would take me and it has since made me question myself about the reality that surrounds us.
Consider that you can see less than 1% of the electromagnetic spectrum
and hear less than 1% of the acoustic spectrum. As you read this, you are
traveling at 220 km/sec across the galaxy. 90% of the cells in your body
carry their own microbial DNA and are not “you.” The atoms in your body are
99.99% empty space and none of them are the ones you were
born with, but they all originated in the belly of a star. Human beings have 46
chromosomes, 2 less than the common potato. The existence of the rainbow
depends on the conical photoreceptors in your eyes; to animals without cones,
the rainbow does not exist. So you don’t just look at a rainbow, you create it.
This is pretty amazing, especially considering that all the beautiful colors you
see represent less than 1% of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Sergio Toporek
Test tube
with my brothers’ milk teeth and mine.
With the material that I was generating, formal and conceptual relationships began to be established. For example, to explore different possibilities of the matter detached from my body, I directly developed one of my milk teeth. Its formalization of cosmic aspect transports me to an idea; the cosmos is contained in each of us.
From top to bottom, direct printing of my baby teeth on baryta paper and a the
Milky Way pictured by the Gaia satellite, from the European Space Agency (ESA).
Through the collection of and engagement with the amassed materials, I've worked to show the existing metaphoric possibilities between marco and micro, human and cosmic.
Fragment
of the file of my detached body hair.
Flysch Zumaia; geological formation of 13 kilometres (approx. 8 miles) along the Basque coastline, where approximately 50 million years of planet Earth's history has accumulated.
Test tube containing peeled skin from my body, assembled in layers throughout a period of a year and a half.
Fleeting, brief, expired, durable, long-lasting, transient, indelible, enduring, never-ending, unfading, instantaneous, mortal, ineradicable, passing, perishable, perennial, perpetual, transitory, eternal... Some photographic notes.
Ph Skyline; formed from the daily record of my body's acidity. Giclée print: 250 x 38 cm. 2018.
fractal
(From the French fractal, voice invented by the French mathematician B. Mandelbrot in 1975, originating from the Latin: Fractus meaning 'broken'.)
1. m. Mat. Iterative structure whose aspect and statistical distribution do not change no matter with which scale it is observed.
Cardioid: hair, entomological needles, ethyl vinyl acetate. 15 x 15 x 7 cm. 2018.