Under the military dictatorship of Pinochet (1973-1990), a mining law was passed which separated land ownership from the mineral resources beneath the Earth’s surface. The "Codigo Minero" thus enables concession owners to mine or ‘explore’, while bypassing the wishes of the surface property owners. The sites of these ecological violations are marked with mining monoliths or survey monuments—pyramidal structures made of concrete and stone that define the territory.
Parque Andino Juncal is a protected area with altitudes reaching 5,000 metres above sea level. It contains a hydric network of glaciers, rivers, streams, Andean vegas, and underground springs. Unique in South America, the area has been recognised as a site of international importance by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and is regarded as an endangered ecosystem.
Mining Monolith draws attention to the chasms that mining exploration—such as that perpetrated by the U.S.-financed mining exploration company Nutrex—leaves behind, and its adverse effects on the glacial ecology of the Andes Mountains, such as the creation of dams that pose a major threat to the hydric network.
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In the video work Inverting the Monolith, 2022 images from camera traps are intermingled with audiovisual material recorded by activists from the netowrk Guardianxs Akunkawa with their mobilbe phones, that denounce the impact Nutrex is having on the glacier systems. Together creates a visual dialogue and multimedia narrative chronicling the progress of mining exploration in the area. The monitoring and documentation of fauna forms part of a wider strategy to contest the mining threat and show the value of conservation within this high-value ecosystem. Inverting the Monolith excavates and highlights the unseen: both the covert mining activities that violate local land laws, and the surveillance work conducted by activists aiming to expose these illegal pursuits using drones and camera traps.
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Projecto Caliente, 2020 is a collection of documents collaboratively assembled with environmentalist Tomás Dinges, displaying legal evidence of case of mining explorations concessions by Nutrex.
The video work Bitacora Mineras, 2020 builds a fictional narrative based on the logbooks where park rangers meticulously documented movements of miners between January and February of 2019.
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Supported by
Museum Sinclair-Haus in Bad-Homburg, Germany for the exhibition Ewiges Eis, 2022
Bienal de Artes Mediales de Santiago 2019 The limits of the Earth at Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (MAC) Parque Forestal, Santiago, Chile (2020), co-curated by Catalina Valdes and Jean-Paul Felley.
Solid Water, Frozen Time, Future Justice, Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
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Links
Inverting the Monolith video teaser
Projecto Caliente, 2019
Mining Lookbook, 2019
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Exhibitions
Inverting the Monolith, Musée des beaux-arts, 2023
Ewiges Eis, Museun Sinclair Haus, 2022
The Limits of the Earth, Bienal de Artes Mediales de Santiago, 2019
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Partners
Parque Andino Juncal
Alianza Gato Andino
Guardinxs del Akunkawa
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