mineral lick*blue origin
SIM Gallery 11th of July - 31st of July 2021
The mythological original cow Auðhumla brought Buri, the grandfather of all the Nordic gods, to life by licking a stone. The negative space of all pores and creases formed at the tip of the tongue at the split second the body took shape. Among animals, the need to lick the earth is so strong that they make long journeys to find the right puddle, with the right amount of salts and minerals. The trip there forms a path that it is said to have been used by early humans to hunt. These paths became roads and the roads became the infrastructure of what is called civilisation. Today, animals meet the same need in specially designed compacted units called mineral licks. The English name refers to both the subject and the act itself. In the exhibition mineral lick * blue origin, this salt stone appears to us as a unit of cosmic construction, a cornerstone of our environment, a starting point for a journey and a landmark for the state of nature and ecosystems. The previous exploitation of natural resources has driven nature into depletion, so the question arises as to whether there is a period of terraforming ahead, where we meet the planet in an attempt to make it earthly again, shape it as if we were shaping another planet that we envision landing on;. The concept of formability refers to traceable relationships in language and between organisms, which the exhibition offers to respect in a disjointed weaving chair.
Text by: Bryndis Bjornsdottir
The exhibition is funded by Icelandic Visual Arts Fund, Artists’ Salary Fund and based on a collaboration with sound artist Golden Diskó Ship and curator Þorhildur Tinna Sigurdardottir formed catalogue text and discursive moments.
Special thanks: Haukur Mar Helgason, Saga Asgeirsdottir, Heida Hafdisardottir, Dora og Kristja at Nedri-Halsi farm, Einar at Sermerkt print, Icelandair Hotels for the sheets that were about to be discarded.