New Mineral Collective (Emilija Škarnulytė & Tanya Busse) delves into the complexities of landscape politics, focusing on the connections between nature and the catastrophic histories that have shaped it. Drawing on the concept of geopoetry as a method of connecting the smallest entities with the largest, and the swiftest temporal events in Earth history with the expanse of geologic time, the collective prompts a reconsideration of our ethical stance towards the planet.
The exhibition features an array of new sculptural works, including six-meter-long acupuncture needles that vertically pierce the institution’s space, and large, colorful bath bombs designed for rivers. These pieces act as both metaphorical and literal tools that intervene in the Earth’s geophysical and geopolitical narratives. Further works act as speculative instruments of critique against contemporary capitalist exploits, revealing the scars of extraction and highlighting our planet’s vulnerabilities.
Surveying Desire serves as a call to re-direct our capitalism-driven desires and adjust the scales at which we view the world. This new body of work emerges against the backdrop of environmental and geopolitical crises, o ering inspiration for new planetary narratives and developing tools that connect the microcosm of the body to the macrocosm of the earth.
Surveying Desire is commissioned and produced by Salzburger Kunstverein. The exhibition is financially supported by O ice for Contemporary Art (OCA) Norway. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition The Pleasure Report at Mercer Union in Toronto.
New Mineral Collective, formed in 2012, is the collaborative artistic practice of Canadian artist Tanya Busse (*1981, New Brunswick) and Lithuanian artist Emilija Škarnulytė (*1987, Vilnius). Through photography, film, and sculptural installation, the artists look at contemporary landscape politics to better understand the nature and extent of human interaction with the Earth’s surface. Their work questions geography, landscape, ecology, and human relations with nature.
