BLURRING THE LINES
BLURRING THE LINES

Lisa Mazenauer

Copper Tales

EDITION

2022, Shortlisted

school

ECAL – École cantonale d’art de Lausanne,
Switzerland

“Copper Tales” is based on the copper extraction site of the Rio Tinto mines in Spain. Starting from the idea that raw materials are extracted to satisfy our embodied desires, I approach these operations through living. How are our bodies connected with the extraction of ore? Río Tinto, the red river leaving the mines, is the starting point of my project. Its colour is the result of bacterial activity due to the extraction. Several temporal layers interact with the place. The ore extraction site has been in operation since the Roman Empire. In 1888, the miners demonstrated against the English company that owned the mines by means of a strike, resulting in violent repression. In 2015, the CAB (Centro de Astrobiología) and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) hypothesised the presence of river-like bacteria on Mars and began analyses. In the meantime, human bones were found at the extraction site, which became an archaeological site. The project is an installation consisting of a book, a structure, videos, and prints. In the book «Thrice Happy if they know their happiness and persevere upright,» temporal and spatial traces created by human and non-human bodies in the site interact together.

In “Copper,” I wanted to make the remaining ore and living beings resonate with these histories. I am looking for a sound, for a dialogue. “Perseverance” explores the point of view of the non-human: the bacteria which survive in the river. This video enters into a dialogue with Acidithiobacillus, two pictures made by the bacteria on a photographic silver film. These two moving images finally interact with “Trace,” a video where we can see me waiting for a cast of my vulva to dry. 

Through my project, I hope to have brought sensitive bodies back into the extraction of raw materials.

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Lisa Mazenauer

Copper Tales

EDITION

2022, Shortlisted

school

ECAL – École cantonale d’art de Lausanne,
Switzerland

“Copper Tales” is based on the copper extraction site of the Rio Tinto mines in Spain. Starting from the idea that raw materials are extracted to satisfy our embodied desires, I approach these operations through living. How are our bodies connected with the extraction of ore? Río Tinto, the red river leaving the mines, is the starting point of my project. Its colour is the result of bacterial activity due to the extraction. Several temporal layers interact with the place. The ore extraction site has been in operation since the Roman Empire. In 1888, the miners demonstrated against the English company that owned the mines by means of a strike, resulting in violent repression. In 2015, the CAB (Centro de Astrobiología) and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) hypothesised the presence of river-like bacteria on Mars and began analyses. In the meantime, human bones were found at the extraction site, which became an archaeological site. The project is an installation consisting of a book, a structure, videos, and prints. In the book «Thrice Happy if they know their happiness and persevere upright,» temporal and spatial traces created by human and non-human bodies in the site interact together.

In “Copper,” I wanted to make the remaining ore and living beings resonate with these histories. I am looking for a sound, for a dialogue. “Perseverance” explores the point of view of the non-human: the bacteria which survive in the river. This video enters into a dialogue with Acidithiobacillus, two pictures made by the bacteria on a photographic silver film. These two moving images finally interact with “Trace,” a video where we can see me waiting for a cast of my vulva to dry. 

Through my project, I hope to have brought sensitive bodies back into the extraction of raw materials.

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