(a game of rocks)
i.
in 2019 i went to iceland, and drove to the remote fjord of borgadfjördur eystri. there, i encountered álfaborg, the majestic rock formation said to be home of the queen of the huldufólk, the hidden people.
i hiked to the top in the violet twilight, where a risky exchange with her was presented: i would take a few rocks from that place. in exchange, she would have the right to take from me something of equal value.
on that understanding, i collected several rocks and took them back to my studio in the town of skagaströnd, where they became the essence of an alchemical process that occupied me the following months, in which i used the rocks, slime and other materials to create a series of fourteen works. fantastic events occured during that time that the present context does not suffice to relate, but that repeatedly betrayed the presence and influence of the hidden people.
at the end of my days in iceland, i packed up the works and the rocks that remained, and posted them back to los angeles. neither postal service gave answer for the mystery: nine of the fourteen works disappeared in transit, never to be found again.
ii.
during my studies i learned a game of enigmatic origin, but which came to me through margaux williamson, sara roberts and a man from guelph, ontario. it is called the game of rocks and it is played thus:
you need a play space, players, and any number of rocks of any size.
you take turns. during your turn, you may perform one of three moves:
1. place a rock into the play space.
2. remove a rock from the play space.
3. move a rock within the play space.
those are the only rules of the game.
iii.
recently, i started to bring the remaining rocks from iceland to other places and leave them there, sometimes taking or simply moving another rock from that site. i have left rocks in merida, london and lisbon, among other locations.
in banff, canada, one of the rocks i had brought disappeared inexplicably from my studio, to be found months later in the studio of a friend in california. on another occasion, a geological movement shook one of the surviving works off the wall, causing one of the rocks to detach.
in time, i came to see my exchange with the hidden people not as a single occurence, but as a game that started much earlier and that is still being played. an infinite game of rocks across space and across species.
//
ongoing, 2019-present