Louise Lahive

This Instillation was made in 2021 as part of a residency program ‘Cloud 9’ .The starting point for this work was from a statement scientists gave when they saw the first images of Mars from the NASA rover called ‘Opportunity’. In 2004 the rover landed on Mars and when scientists reviewed the images from the immediate area; they saw ‘blueberry’ like formations on the surface of the planet (small cylindrical formations that could have only formed in standing water, proof of an ancient, dried up Martian sea). I was interested in how they thought of berries, how our brains can not help but associate with our natural world. I though with was indicative of how we can only ever see the martin world though the particular lens of our human senses and imaginations.

I started to make ‘berry like’ objects in my home, bringing in domestic ritual. Each berry was hand made by soaking paper and pigment, pushing it through a sieve, mixing with flour and molding small balls that were then baked.

These objects were then used in the space to create a type of 3d drawing using gold thread.

There is also a video to go alongside this instillation which show part of the ritual of making in the domestic space. ( opens in new tab)

(133) Video 13 03 2021, 16 14 02 1 - YouTube

Video 13 03 2021, 15 51 28 1

photos of the instillation all taken by Kasia Burke