BOLDTENDENCIES

2020

‘Vajra’ (The Weapon of the Gods) means ‘divine enlightenment’ or ‘inspiration’ in Sanskrit. Depictions of deities carrying these sacred weapons are found throughout the ancient world. Here the Vajra is transformed into an imagined animal spine, playing with the language of reconstructive archeology and particle physics.

The Vajra may be a creature of the ancient world or a projection of a future entity brought to life through new technologies. Its form as much references depictions in ancient iconography as it does those found in contemporary technology, such as Lazar Weapon Systems or the Hadron Collider.

‘River, Roads & Fire’ The epic of Gilgamesh (2000 BC) is the oldest story ever told. It contains the first record of human impact on the environment. The Sumerian tale describes vast tracts of cedar forests in present day Southern Iraq. According to the story, Gilgamesh defies the Gods by cutting down the forest, and in return, the Gods curse the land with fire and drought.

River, Roads & Fire is made of two charred trunks of cedar wood enveloped in rubber. The two objects speak to the widespread desertification of land in ancient Sumeria—now seen as the likely result of deliberate deforestation.

By 2100 BC, soil erosion and salt composites in the area had devastated agriculture, forcing communities to move north to Babylon and Assyria. Some of the first laws decreed to protect forests were established in the Sumerian city-state ‘Ur’ in ancient Mesopotamia.

BOLD TENDENCIES 2020

http://boldtendencies.com/programme/

Sol Bailey-Barker
Jeremy Deller
Jack Evans
Nathaniel Faulkner
Lucy Gregory
Jenny Holzer
Rene Matić
Lilian Nejatpour
Davinia-Ann Robinson
Rafał Zajko