ELECTRO-LUMINESCENT ROCK
Alpine experiment by Anna Comiotto
video: Manuel Schüpfer
At 7552 feet above sea level, on a mountain range overlooking a glacier made up of 27 billion tons of ice, part of a lichen covered boulder is transformed into electroluminescent matter.
The video documents the rock’s transformation in this wild, undisturbed no-man’s land. Using colour palette and brush, the painter applies silver paint, dielectric paint, excitable phosphor, and a conductive varnish to the rock’s weathered surface. As the sun goes down she supplies electric energy to the paint layers. The rock begins to flicker, then flash. Finally, it emits a steady glow into the darkness.
This video documents an experiment in light exposure conducted near a glacial geological formation in the Swiss Alps. It shows the transformation of a rock into a light source that seems to be indigenous to the site. Artificial light becomes an active and autonomous part of darkening nature – in a surprisingly natural way.
Anna Comiotto (CH), born 1977, works with botanical and geological finds in an electronically activated state.
Using natural elements such as soil, rock, ore and flora, she develops experiments and installations involving light, electricity, and sound.
Works are documented by filmmaker Manuel Schüpfer (CH), born 1968.
They both live and work in Bern, Switzerland.