latentes
A mass of clay, sediment, and brick slowly mutates under acidic conditions—Latentes invites viewers into a living system, shaped by time, chemistry, and collaboration.
Latentes is a project that explores the possibilities and latent realities embedded within materials and objects when exposed to specific conditions.
Using locally sourced clays, found bricks, and calcium-rich sediments from Vienna’s surroundings, a series of material experiments—in constant dialogue with the involved materials and non-human agents—have been carried out to imagine and ask: What might an increasingly acidic environment look like?
Changing and evolving in real time, Latentes investigates the potential of creating in collaboration with other-than-human entities. Displayed during its active transformation and growth process, this earthly body altered its appearance throughout the exhibition days, allowing visitors to witness a living process where material agency leads the way.
During the process of the project, research on reactions and growth was performed with different sediments and rocks, further applied into ceramic objects. The materials were tested in their raw state, but glazes and engobes with a high content of calcium rich materials were also tested on stoneware as can be seen on the first image below.
The results were observed under digital microscope to have a closer look into the structure of the crystals.
