SUNBURN, Video 4K, 10’26’’, 2021
SUNSCREEN Catalogue, 92 pages, FSC-certified paper, perfect bound, 2021
In collaboration with Rosa Whiteley
Sound Production: Simonluca Laitempergher
supported by PACT Zollverein, Essen, GER, VLAANDEREN DEPARTEMENT CULTUUR, JEUGD & MEDIA, BE and RWTH Aachen University, GER
Sunscreens are no longer just applied to our skins, but also to the skins of mountains, clouds, or trees. As we struggle to control shifting climates and our ability to adapt to them, sunscreening has grown in size, through solar geoengineering, to encompass the planet. Skins in different bodies — cells, species, ecologies, territories and technologies — often change colour in a reaction to UV light. Chemical »alarms« in cells trigger inflammation and metabolic mechanisms produce protective pigments. Leaves flash red, algae secrete pink, whilst humans smear shades of white. As climate related stress amplifies, colours strain to perform resistance. These colours act as both a defence and a signal for the intensity of the sun; bearing the impressions of the weather-world. ›SUNBURN‹ explores the spaces between colourful feral ecologies, and synthetic post-human skins; uncovering methods of living in a hotter, sun- scorched earth.
Whilst sunscreening occurs differently in different species, from whales to trees, this catalogue is not organised through biological taxonomy. Instead, it explores four methods and acts of sunscreening; Spraying, Secreteing, Smearing or Costuming. Each page describes the colour, chemicals and stories behind a different sunscreening method.
Photos by Dirk Rose, Sina Hensel
