Leviathan
Truth also is the pursuit of it: Like happiness, and it will not stand. Even the verse begins to eat away In the acid. Pursuit, pursuit;
A wind moves a little, Moving in a circle, very cold. How shall we say? In ordinary discourse— We must talk now. I am no longer sure of the words, The clockwork of the world. What is inexplicable Is the ‘preponderance of objects,’ The sky lights Daily with that predominance
And we have become the present. We must talk now. Fear Is fear. But we abandon one another.
Leviathan, From New Collected Poems by George Oppen (1908-1984).
Leviathan holds a series of 78 unique photographs from the crater of the dormant Vulcano Solfatara located within the Regional Park of Campi Flegrei in the municipality of Pozzuoli, north of Naples. I wanted to portray the unfamiliar, choosing the heart of the volcano, which many won’t have seen. The juxtaposition of the context of time and how power and freedom (which don’t often sit well together) challenge our contemporary and social responsibilities at the same time as glossing over the contradictions between the sustainability of human life and nature’s ecosystems. Furthermore, I question how our thoughts affect our identity, behaviour and the inherent individual responsibility we have vis a vis our surroundings. Leviathan looks at the challenging position of our shared responsibility in the sustainability of life versus the increased corporate and private ownership of Earth’s assets. The title Leviathan is also connected with the ego and holds reference to the spiritual lesson of controlling one’s desire and making the right choices. We can create and we can destroy.....so can nature and what better way to show this than the volcano? Accordingly, I chose to transfer the feeling of this momentary experience by working with Polaroid film that changes with temperature, i.e. it will never end its development, its transgression or find its perfection, it’s a little like us human beings. Ina Otzko, Nov. 9th 2016
The work is only available as one installation of 78.
