Cyanobacteria

The Garden Of Edén: Solar Equator

The Garden Of Edén: Solar Equator depicts a real place located in Baños de Agua Santa, Ecuador where the world divides into two hemispheres.

The Garden oO Edén is a research-based and experimental anthotypes series that seeks to move away from toxic processes. This series proposes a new regenerative photographic art system by using what already exists to create and design a sustainable and regenerative body of work based on future materials with living regenerative materials such as cyanobacteria and microalgae.

Spirulina (Biomass of cyanobacteria, and microalgae) uses photosynthetic pigments, such as carotenoids, phycobilins, and chlorophyll, which absorb energy from light.

Alejandra Orjuela seeks to question her position as a photographer and artist regarding the environmental footprint she has on Earth and how to achieve images sustainably. Therefore, she experiments with the image using future materials such as spirulina to create images that reflect climate change and the impact of photography on the planet. These photographic prints are made by using the chemical process of photosynthesis, the photosensitive properties of microalgae as emulsion, and the sunlight as a developer.

"The action of the sun’s rays is to destroy the colour, effecting a sort of chromatic analysis, in which two distinct elements of colour are separated, by destroying the one and leaving the other outstanding." The History and Practice of the Art of Photography by Henry Hunt Snelling.

The pigments oxidise, producing a photographic print providing access to clean art at the intersection of future materials and interconnected systems while starting a conversation on the future of art, sustainability, and regenerative design providing solutions to things we have to solve in order to fix and repair the broken systems that have already been degraded or lost.

Text submitted by the maker and edited by the Future Materials Bank. For information about reproducing (a part of) this text, please contact the maker.