As if it should have been a quarry

As if it should have been a quarry is literally an immersion in Iceland's land.

During an artist residency in this country, Sabine Mirlesse centered her project on a village that had been buried - swallowed - in lava and ash back in 1973, in a small island off the south mainland coast.

The artist got interested in the intimate relationship between the Icelanders and their "untamable" land, and was struck by the people's resilience as they started to dug up their houses, their lives, as soon as possible after the eruption. Some were just buried in ashes, some had been eaten up, digested by the lava flow.

From the great geological power of this Earth, from this incredible relationship to the elements, Sabine Mirlesse built a narration on rock and faces, on portraits where the land swallows the bodies and the houses, but also beams - spits out - an obvious strength.

In a more experimental approach on the physical connection between the inhabitants and their land, the artist asked locals to cover up their faces in ash and leave the imprint of their face on a large canvas... She then took a picture of them, creating a series of portraits whose calm and serenity bring appeasement - in a beautiful counterpoint - to the Earth's violent behaviour.

A beautiful book, a beautiful introduction to this country most of us have dreamed of more than once...

64 pages - Hardcover, no DJ

Damiani, 2013

New - Mint condition