Having grown up in the Atacama Desert, the region where the world’s largest copper mine is located, Michelle-Marie Letelier investigates the raw materials of coal, copper and saltpetre. In her work, she studies their physical characteristics, such as electrical conductivity or crystallization, and – unlike the extractive industries – she creates poetic images beyond the forms of control. Recently, she has also begun to explore salmon farming in its global contexts. Through multimedia installations, Michelle-Marie Letelier relates different time periods, regions, and communities to one another and highlights them from political-economic, historical, and cultural perspectives. Digital space offers her the opportunity to bring her work to life beyond physical boundaries in any reality we choose. We are looking forward to her implementation in Prater Digital.
During her residency, Letelier created digital atmospheres by growing crystal formations in a virtual underwater world taken from her work “The Bone”. In doing so, she referred to its metaphorical meaning for information technology in connection with her current artistic exploration of benthic zones. While the crystals are still growing, the starting point of the crystal growth can already be visited in Prater Digital’s gallery space. In spring 2022, the continuation will open in a second room.