AMBER

The word “electricity” comes from the Greek ēlektron, meaning amber, a fossilized tree resin that produces an electrostatic charge when rubbed. And hence the name of this work. 

Seeking to explore both the visible and invisible forms of electricity, the project contemplates images that take the shape of an electric discharge, whose outline resembles a tree’s roots. By applying fractal geometry and giving way to artistic license, electricity’s ancient etymological relationship with trees is thus evoked. At the technical level, we chose to work with electroplated daguerreotype plates, a photochemical process taking several hours that uses electricity to obtain an image with gorgeous shades of blue and violet that eventually disappear, much in the way of a lightning bolt that pierces the sky before touching the ground. This process is recorded in order to capture the ephemeral event.