The Crystal Land, or a Stage for Material Conflict
an exhibition presenting a selection of works reflects on the globe’s relationship with minerals and natural resoures, charting an exploration of the economic, social, and political impact of extraction captialism on humanity and the environment.
Concept
In an obscure article titled “The Crystal Land” published in Harper’s Bazaar in 1966 the American artist Robert Smithson captivatingly recollects a daytrip he and his wife the artist Nancy Holt took with Donald Judd and his wife the dancer Julie Finch from Manhattan to the quarries of New Jersey. Smithson recalled the abundance of minerals they discovered, from axinite and copper to dolomite, pyrite, and silver. In the article he reflects upon the pervasive presence of materials in everyday modern life made of minerals: plate-glass storefront windows, reflective automobile chrome surfaces, a rearview mirror, and even the crystals in radio technology transmitting the music in his car as it speeds down the New Jersey highway. In the short, poetic essay, Smithson captures an exhilarating moment in modernism and its technological application of the very same minerals found in the rich geological terrain that the foursome had visited on that warm spring day in 1966 collecting crystals and rocks from a New Jersey landscape.
Fast-forward to 2025: the world is fully occupied and reliant on extraction capitalism and the application of other kinds of minerals used in other kinds of modern-day media and communication technologies, that of the digital, the Internet, the screen—the realities of contemporary life. The Crystal Landwould examine the use of minerals—specifically what is referred to today as “rare earth” resources—and their application primarily in what can be summarized as screen technologies. The exhibition and accompanying programs would contribute to the discourse on dwindling natural resources—from water and botanicals to oil and gas—resulting from human intervention. The exhibition would provide a means to reflect on the omnipresent use of screen technologies and their impact, not only on social connectivity and alienation, but the earth’s geography and, thus, global politics. Conflicts occur when something becomes rare or extinct, when supplies become low. Competing economic and political forces follow in order to sort out who has rights to mineral-rich regions of the world.
The Crystal Land would present a selection of works reflecting on the globe’s relationship with minerals and natural resoures, charting an exploration of the economic, social, and political impact of extraction captialism on humanity and the environment.
In an obscure article titled “The Crystal Land” published in Harper’s Bazaar in 1966 the American artist Robert Smithson captivatingly recollects a daytrip he and his wife the artist Nancy Holt took with Donald Judd and his wife the dancer Julie Finch from Manhattan to the quarries of New Jersey. Smithson recalled the abundance of minerals they discovered, from axinite and copper to dolomite, pyrite, and silver. In the article he reflects upon the pervasive presence of materials in everyday modern life made of minerals: plate-glass storefront windows, reflective automobile chrome surfaces, a rearview mirror, and even the crystals in radio technology transmitting the music in his car as it speeds down the New Jersey highway. In the short, poetic essay, Smithson captures an exhilarating moment in modernism and its technological application of the very same minerals found in the rich geological terrain that the foursome had visited on that warm spring day in 1966 collecting crystals and rocks from a New Jersey landscape.
Fast-forward to 2025: the world is fully occupied and reliant on extraction capitalism and the application of other kinds of minerals used in other kinds of modern-day media and communication technologies, that of the digital, the Internet, the screen—the realities of contemporary life. The Crystal Landwould examine the use of minerals—specifically what is referred to today as “rare earth” resources—and their application primarily in what can be summarized as screen technologies. The exhibition and accompanying programs would contribute to the discourse on dwindling natural resources—from water and botanicals to oil and gas—resulting from human intervention. The exhibition would provide a means to reflect on the omnipresent use of screen technologies and their impact, not only on social connectivity and alienation, but the earth’s geography and, thus, global politics. Conflicts occur when something becomes rare or extinct, when supplies become low. Competing economic and political forces follow in order to sort out who has rights to mineral-rich regions of the world.
The Crystal Land would present a selection of works reflecting on the globe’s relationship with minerals and natural resoures, charting an exploration of the economic, social, and political impact of extraction captialism on humanity and the environment.
- Iván Argote
- Tarek Atoui
- Rosa Barba
- Julian Charrière
- Trisha Donnelly
- Guillermo Faivovich and Nicolás Goldberg
- Cyprien Gaillard
- Nancy Holt
- Pierre Huyghe
- Iman Issa
- Yuki Kimura
- Moon Kyungwon and Jeon Joonho
- Rikke Luther
- Nicholas Mangan
- Jumana Manna
- Josiah McElheny
- Yuko Mohri
- K.R.M. Mooney
- Otobong Nkanga
- sidony o’neal
- Yuri Pattison
- Florian Pumhösl
- Pamela Rosenkranz
- Marilou Schultz
- Robert Smithson
- Josh Tonsfeldt