Extractable Matters on Film

In response to the ongoing COVID-19 situation – as a way of continuing our programme online whilst supporting our community of artists and collaborators – we are pleased to present Extractable Matters on Film.

Running for six weeks with a new film available to watch weekly, this season of artist-made films expanded on the questions underlying Arts Catalyst’s ongoing research programme Extractable Matters [1] – explored in the context of the recent two-day conference Assembly: Extractable Matters [2].

This film programme aimed to explore the molecular effects of mining and extractive practices on a planetary scale. It tried to unpack these complex interdependencies – for instance, between the demand for forms of renewable energy that require the extraction of scarce resources and the disruption of ecosystems and communities – and expose existing forms of alliances and solidarity between artists, activists, and those affected by mining industries.

Artists in the programme included Ignacio Acosta [3], Joshua Portway and Lise Autogena [4], Regina de Miguel [5], Carolina Caycedo [6], Rachel O'Reilly [7] and Emma Charles [8].

KEY TERMS

Extractable matters are both mineralogical and corporeal. They encompass anything that while being dug, removed, displaced, contaminated and exploited, produces profit and value. Extractable Matters is Arts Catalyst’s ongoing inquiry into the politics of extractive practices, of their infrastructures and effects on a planetary scale.

*Image: The Cerrejon coal mine, Colombia; courtesy Richard Solly, London Mining Network

Exhibition

Links
[1] https://www.artscatalyst.org/content/extractable-matters
[2] https://www.artscatalyst.org/assembly-extractable-matters
[3] https://www.artscatalyst.org/extractable-matters-film-1-ignacio-acosta-litte-ja-goabdd%C3%A1-drones-and-drums-2018
[4] https://www.artscatalyst.org/extractable-matters-film-2-lise-autogena-and-joshua-portway
[5] https://www.artscatalyst.org/extractable-matters-film-4-regina-de-miguel-cat%C3%A1basis
[6] https://www.artscatalyst.org/extractable-matters-film-carolina-caycedo-a-gente-rio
[7] https://www.artscatalyst.org/extractable-matters-film-3-rachel-o%E2%80%99reilly-infractions-2019
[8] https://www.artscatalyst.org/extractable-matters-film-6-emma-charles-white-mountain