2.2. PLANETAS

The idea of this project is to reflect on the footprint we leave in this world and on the essence of the image.

Human beings constantly try to leave our memory in this world as a way of trying to be immortal. For example, in photography, we portray ourselves to document our memory. We procreate as another way to leave a mark. Also, more unconsciously for some and conscious for others, we are leaving a gigantic mark on the planet with everyday acts. This is seen in the garbage we generate and accumulate. However much we want to cling to life with our memory, it is ephemeral and disappears over time, merging with nature.

In any case, it has been shown that our way of life is leaving traces on the planet with consequences that are too alarming for future generations. In this sense, a group of scientists has defined the ecological footprint as “the area of ecologically productive territory (crops, pastures, forests or aquatic ecosystems) necessary to produce the resources used and to assimilate the waste produced by a given population with a certain lifestyle, and consequently its degree of sustainability ”. To raise awareness, they have created a test to measure the ecological footprint of each one (www.myfootprint.org). In some way, it measures how much nature we need to provide our lifestyle.

On the other hand, I intend to go beyond photography and reflect on the possibilities of digital image, deepening the essence of the image. Bearing in mind that in a certain way, the digital increasingly resembles the pictorial rather than the photographic.

To do this, based on the idea that art contaminates everyday life, I use a sculpture game to draw in digital image some traces of different objects that symbolize my ecological footprint, based on the test mentioned above. The title of 2.2 planets means the result of this test: if everyone consumed as I do it would require 2.2 planets.

This game allows you to sculpt the footprint, in an ephemeral way since it will be transformed with the movement. Likewise, pictorially, an effect of mystery is achieved on what composes the image, as if it were a new element, neither grain nor pixel.

I use personal items for everyday use, from halogen bulbs, credit card, cables, a sausage, a pvc bottle, two pacifiers, etc. The idea is to look for objects that symbolize each test question and at the same time play with the shapes and effects that arise when putting them in the sculpture, photographing and treating them digitally.

HE001 (Ecological Footprint)
100 cm x 130 cm – siliconised cprint on methacrylate with aluminium back and frame, edition of 3.
– Selected as a finalist in the 75th Salón de Otoño de Madrid. With exhibition at the Centro Cultural Casa de Vacas del Retiro in Madrid and catalogue.
– Selected and exhibited at the 1st Zoom Auction (Guatemala City 2009).