Homo insipiens
A wet plate collodion glass negative, burned pine, lavender oil.
The work is composed of an 8x10-inch glass negative, photographed by using the wet plate collodion process and placed in a frame built from seared, blackened pinewood. The second part of the work comprises a text of an upcoming past, which is placed next to the image. These two elements provide a glimpse into an alternative future and a possibility to stop and think about the direction in which we are heading.
Each material used in the work is infused with a powerful, symbolic meaning.
- The skull is artificial and man-made, the quintessential version of the average skull of a European.
- The pine and the rosebay willowherb are both pioneer species. They are the first plants to re-emerge from the ground after forest fires and clearings.
- A piece of wood that has once been subjected to fire becomes resilient to the stress of the environment and resistant to re-ignition.
- Sand, and glass made of sand, is a non-renewable resource, which together with drinking water and oil is one of the most sought-after resources in the world.
- People have used lavender from the cradle to the grave since the Antiquity. Lavender provides stress relief and comfort, and it has also been used in the embalming process.
- In addition to photography, collodion solution used to be – and still is – used in the treatment of wounds.
- Before the invention of antibiotics, silver nitrate was used in medicine as a disinfectant, in the treatment of gonorrhea, and the removal of warts. Silver is the most reflective of all metals, and it also conducts electricity and heat better than any other metal.
- Sandarac is a resin that has been used in protective coatings since the Middle Ages. It has also been used as incense.
