DESERT READINGS | Michael Hirschbichler y Guillaume Othenin-Girard In the pre-columbian cosmologies, the surface of the Earth –the habitat of people, plants and animals– was located in between the upper world of the sun, the moon, and the stars, and the lower world of the dead. From our current perspective we could say that the panorama ranges between the fields of geology (below) and astronomy (above), both of which are still pervaded by myths, beliefs, and speculations. Almost nowhere else on earth is this more obvious than in the Atacama Desert. Just like in the myths of old, the region’s landscape forms a middle point between the earth and the sky, in which some people dig (raw materials sought by mining companies), while others observe the immensity of the universe (at ALMA and other observatories). The landscape itself is covered in structures and tracks that go up and down, and as such, can be understood as a “recording” or a projection screen of events and ideas. In the topography one can also find different temporal horizons: geologic stratifications of time, leading from recent human history all the way back to the distant past; and in the unfathomable space-time of astronomy, which traces back to the origins of the universe. In our project we want to delve into these traces, at the intersection of cosmological and scientific ideas and more-than-human histories. By reading about and materialising some of these things, we plan on paying special attention to the desert as a recording plateau, while adding a temporary imprint to its surface and contributing to the process of stratification of its immense existence. Michael and Guillaume were selected during the open call for Resonances, organized by the Goethe Institute and the French Institute of Chile. During the second half of 2020 the two artists remotely lived the first part of the residency art&rocks, approaching Antofagasta’s territory through archive materials and conversations with the winner of the National Science Award, Dr. Guillermo Chong, a professor at the Catholic University of the North, who collaborates with SACO in geological matters. The on-site part of the residency is supposed to take place in 2021.
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