HULDA RÓS GUÐNADÓTTIR

Seven glass pipes, each ø 25 mm, coal, painted metal hooks. App. 103 x 285 cm. 2025.

Pour on the Coal was created as part of the second iteration of the ongoing SILICA research project, in which Hulda Ros Gudnadottir investigates the global industrial processes behind silicon production. The first iteration, S-I-L-I-C-A-0-1, was presented at Scharaun, Berlin, curated by Jaro Straub, with text by Erin Honeycutt. An earlier preview of the research project appeared in the 20th anniversary exhibition Ocean Dwellers at the Nordic Embassies in Berlin, curated by Solvej Helweg Ovesen.

The project follows the production chain of silicon used in industrial high-tech manufacturing as well as glass production. As part of this process, coal is extracted from open-pit mines in Colombia and transported along historic trade and colonial sea routes from the Caribbean port city of Santa Marta to Húsavík in northern Iceland. There, the coal functions as carbon in a high-temperature reduction process that transforms silicon dioxide (silica) into purer silicon.

Light is an essential element of the wall sculpture. As light passes through the glass pipes and the coal, distorted shadow images resembling landscapes are projected onto the wall behind the work, producing drawing-like formations that shift with the viewing position.