When we enter the landscape of quarries, we are entering the landscape of humankind. We enter a landscape shaped by the void left behind by the matter with which we build our structures. This exhibition seeks to explore that idea through the materiality of the image. It invites us to reconsider not only our physical, but also our emotional relationship with the environment we have created. To pass through the image and, like in a hall of mirrors, observe and observe ourselves in spaces we suddenly come across on mountain walks—spaces that are often closed off to us.
These alterations to the landscape could very well be part of a still-debated concept: the Anthropocene. This term has been proposed to define the current geological epoch, in which human activity is seen as a key force shaping natural systems. The start of this period is unclear: the reshaping of topography through material extraction is already documented in the Neolithic era. It may be from that moment on that we have been building the landscape—from that moment on that we have been excavating the Earth.
(*) The title refers to Joe Diffie’s song Third Rock from the Sun, and the lyric: “Welcome to Earth, third rock from the Sun.”
The exhibition presents a selection of images by photographer and architect Mònica Sánchez. The show, which can be visited from July 3rd to September 21st, is part of the COAC Collections series, featuring photographic material from the Historical Archive of the Architects’ Association of Catalonia.
