Sky of salt, salt of the earth
2020

    “Sky of salt, salt of the earth” was conceived specifically for the tight dimensions of the Lab Box at Art Curator Grid. It is a landscape, defined by the elementar dynamics earth-sky, which assumes the form of a diptych: in the floor, a lioz limestone reveals the fossils it contains; in the ceiling, a semi-transparent sheet allows light to pass through salt crystals. The installation deals with the chance of the two elements encountering each other’s materiality: depending on the humidity of the space, and atmospheric conditions, the salt might dissolve and precipitate on the stone.
    Contained in that space, a sensorial experience encloses the viewer between that earth and that sky, where the history of the material connects it with a wider landscape, outside that context and that time. Lioz limestone, which is of marine and sedimentary formation, speaks of a time (and a substrate) in which Lisbon was submerged under a sea. Broadly associated with construction, in particular with the idea of monument, Lioz was used in official and colonial buildings, bearing a narrative of power and domination, here the idea was to subvert and recontextuale the material, addressing it to its natural history.
    As an in-between space it intends to open a dialogue through the revival of an ancient landscape. With a sky of salt and a floor of fossiliferous limestone, we are submerged in a sea that no longer exists, it is a testimonial of the past, a potential future.