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In Suspension*

Magazine

10 July 2023
This month's topic: The Weight of AirResident Editor: Olga Subirós

In Suspension*

#1 White frame.

Imagine a sculpture.
A white marble sculpture.
A sculpture of Carrara marble.

A hammer blow dislodges it,
it breaks it down.

#2 Detail of the broken right hand of Michelangelo’s ‘Pietà’ after Laszlo Toth’s vandalization on 21.5.1972. Undated photo released by Musei Vaticani, 21.5.2013.

Its fragments, everywhere.
Dispersed.
Scattered.

All pieces have been collected.
There’s not even a chip left.
Not a bit.

#3 Operator sweeping the floor in Laboratorio Michelangelo. Carrara, 20.7.2018.

The broom has been passed too.
Even the finest dust
has been collected.

However, material is missing…

#4 Detail of a granulometry of marble sand taken at Fantiscritti quarry, Carrara, 19.7.2018. Test made at the laboratory of sedimentology. Faculty of Geology, Universitat Autònoma de Bellaterra, 21.11.2018.

To what point can the stone break down?
And the dust, a grain of dust,
how small can it be?

#5 Picture of the sieves after the grain classification. In the laboratory of sedimentology. Faculty of Geology, Universitat Autònoma de Bellaterra, 21.11.2018.

Is it by passing through the finest sieve,
when the dust ceases being dust?

#6 Detail of a Wilson cloud chamber for observing particles with the naked eye. Faculty of Physics, University of Helsinki, 28.11.2018.

The imperceptible particle
is suspended for hours, days.
Even years, depending on its size.

We know about the anthropogenic ones,
the ones in cities.
But there are also those
that are organic bits, or mineral ones.

#7 Scanning a stone in 3D, screen capture. Academy of Fine Arts, Uniarts Helsinki, 24.4.2018.

For a long time,
I’ve been dreaming.
With almost imperceptible sculptures.
With clouds of marble dust,
Clusters of white powder.

# 8 Prototype for a machine of clouds of marble dust, 30.11.2018.

The smallest sparks of matter.
Memories in the form of slivers.

#9 Imaging a grain of marble through a Scanning Electron Microscope. Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, 6.9.2019.

Dust is detested for its volatility,
and because it covers and fills everything.
The particles can’t even be perceived.

I want the wind to bring me a particle,
or a grain of dust from that shattered sculpture.
Let it touch me, let it land on me,
And allow it to whisper its story to me.

#10 Test in-situ to form a cloud with marble sand at Cava Michelangelo. Carrara quarries, 20.7.2018.

 

* In Suspension is a visual essay based on the homonymous video.

Mireia c. Saladrigues is an artist and a researcher, or rather, an artist-researcher. Her projects build on extensive inquiries while her particular research methodologies are grounded in artistic practice. She is an International Doctoral Candidate (DFA) of the University of the Arts Helsinki. In the recent years she has had her head in the clouds, noticing the particles that float in the air. She is especially interested in the tiny rock units, but in parallel she often remembers how her father -an artisan pastry chef- used to blow flour over the work table. Portrait by Elisenda Fontarnau.

+ See all publications of this author

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