VIBRANT MATTER | CHROMATOGRAM ARCHIVE
Chromatograms are the visual expression of vibrant matter - a literal self-portrait of the materials being used to create them. When making chromatograms I am a facilitator of the process ~ the outcome cannot be controlled and expectations must be let go.
I borrowed the term Vibrant Matter from a book by philosopher Jane Bennet - she considers ‘what are the political implications of recognising matter that exists outside of the human…as forces, with trajectories, propensities or tendencies of their own.’
While traditionally used by agronomists to check soil quality I have been testing the method with many other materials - including trees, seaweed, dead insects and even human ashes - to extraordinary results.
The more I engage with the process, the more I’ve become convinced of an energetic resonance or memory that is inscribed within the materials. Working with ashes or ‘dead’ matter yelids consistently vivid, striking & sometimes eerie results.
Disintegration can also be thought of as metamorphosis & sometimes it feels the essence of a material is not necessarily tied to form. It feels the process of chromatography gives voice to this essence that survives the many alchemical transitions it might pass through.
Photograph by Sami Harper on 35mm.
Archive is updated via : @_vibrantmatter_
A chromatogram commission ~ made from Fern’s ashes.
A chromatogram made from caterpillars of the white cedar moth (found drowned in a trough). Wiradjuri Country, NSW Australia.
A chromatogram made from Sami’s favourite tree. An elm which grows outside her old share house ‘the love shack’. Ngunawal/Ngunnawal Country, ACT Australia.
A chromatogram made from baby Rae’s dehydrated placenta (born December 2022). The placenta is an organ that grows alongside the baby, within the mother but also made up of the father’s genes. I see this chromatogram as a portrait of Rae, Steph and Glenn - made from an organ that represents the moment they were perhaps at their most entwined.
A chromatogram commission ~ made from Jamie’s ashes.
A chromatogram made from the needles of a Casuarina tree. Walbunja Country, NSW Australia.
A chromatogram made from bark of an ancient Scribbly Gum tree growing in the reserve behind my studio. Ngunawal/Ngunnawal Country, ACT Australia.
A chromatogram made from red soil collected by the roadside when driving out near Bourke. Ngemba Country, NSW Australia.
Chromatogram-making process photos on 35mm by Sami Harper.
Copyright © All rights reserved.