DOWN TO EARTH
(Con los pies en la Tierra)
Curating: Blanca de la Torre and Zoran Erić
Dates: 07.10.2022 to 29.01.2023
Place: CAAM- Sede principal. Plantas -1, 0, 1 y 2.
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Spain.
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Tue Greenfort
Saragasso, 2022
Cianotipias / Cyanotypes
Cortesía del artista / Courtesy of the artist
For this exhibition Greenfort produced a series of cyanotypes on-site, using seaweeds found in the Atlantic Ocean surrounding Gran Canaria. The artist winks to Anna Atkins, who published the first book illustrated by photography, using cyanotype impressions made out of algae (Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, 1843).
Marine algae are pre-human lifeforms belonging to the kingdom of Protista and are not plants, even though they use chlorophyll for photosynthesis. Their function in the ecosystem of the seas is multifunctional, serving as a source of food for marine animals but also providing shelter to them.
The algae are important in the stability of oceanic ecosystems and the global impact of intensified industrial farming leading to a flood of nutrients in the world’s oceans, a phenomenon known as eutrophication. However, they are severely endangered by the environmental stresses caused by climate change such as drastic fluctuations in salinity, temperature, and acidity of the water
Greenfort also alludes to the nutritional benefits of seaweed for humans and points to ocean seaweed farming as a more sustainable system than the conventional land-based agriculture, also creating habitats for marine life. Using the ocean farming in the future avoids the use of fertilizers, pesticides and MGO’s based hybrid plants as well as would prevent destroying existing habitats on land for food production in a growing world population.
Exhibition title: Down to Earth
Curating: Blanca de la Torre and Zoran Erić
Dates: 07.10.2022 to 29.01.2023
Place: CAAM- Sede principal. Plantas -1, 0, 1 y 2.
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Spain.