Afterlife

Inspired by early 19th century naturalist Alexander Humboldt, I am piecing together a fictional world of landscape artifacts (rocks, flora, etc) and images of ‘Humboldt’ like characters who measure earth’s phenomena, looking for evidence of the Afterlife.

The title ‘Afterlife’ refers to themes of life and death rooted in my anxiety of threatened ecosystems. Humboldt discovered the idea of an ecosystem, and he radically suggested humans could upset the delicate balance of nature. The world today is very different from the one he documented as virtually every corner of the earth has been seen or altered by human use. It is suggested we are within a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, defined by radioactive particles scattered across the earth by nuclear tests, burning of fossil fuels, plastic pollution, etc. As the earth becomes increasingly void of unspoiled natural environments, our idea of nature is becoming lost.

Afterlife is an attempt to re-discover our affected landscape as Humboldt must have felt as he saw strange new species and places. It is also a way of visualizing landscapes of the future by thinking about how someone from the past would look at the landscape now. My fiction melds Humboldt’s vision with my own, and the current world with a future one. Humboldt came to know nature mainly through acts of observation, whereas my vision is built on interventions with a camera and artificial lighting.

Color is a formal organizing principle, but more importantly it serves to give weight to themes of life and death. Exaggerating color helps suggest Landscapes in a new world and time, blanketed in a fresh nuclear glow.

Humboldt suggested that nature is like a tapestry that could be undone with the pull of a thread. The thread has been pulled. Afterlife is a series that considers how to represent these realities as nature becomes increasingly more synthetic than pristine.

© Christopher Rodriguez - Image from the Afterlife photography project
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Crystal Peak: Measuring Quartz Transparency/Human activity has left a permanent layer of particulates in geological sediment.

© Christopher Rodriguez - Red Moonlight #1: Red Moonlight #1/Signs of the Afterlife reveal themselves in red wavelengths of light.
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Red Moonlight #1: Red Moonlight #1/Signs of the Afterlife reveal themselves in red wavelengths of light.

© Christopher Rodriguez - Trusty Bonpland Measuring Wind Cave Phenomena
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Trusty Bonpland Measuring Wind Cave Phenomena

© Christopher Rodriguez - On-Off/1's and 0's/ Device Failure/Not everything goes as planned.
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On-Off/1's and 0's/ Device Failure/Not everything goes as planned.

© Christopher Rodriguez - Cryogenic Success/There is hope after all.
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Cryogenic Success/There is hope after all.

© Christopher Rodriguez - Boxwood #1/These boxwood species consume less water.
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Boxwood #1/These boxwood species consume less water.

© Christopher Rodriguez - Summer Flowers/Radioactive decay can be beautiful.
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Summer Flowers/Radioactive decay can be beautiful.

© Christopher Rodriguez - Afterlife Testing #1/Metamorphosis
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Afterlife Testing #1/Metamorphosis

© Christopher Rodriguez - Afterlife Testing #2/Metamorphosis
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Afterlife Testing #2/Metamorphosis

© Christopher Rodriguez - Amazonas Sunset/The afterlife is visible.
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Amazonas Sunset/The afterlife is visible.

© Christopher Rodriguez - Mating Butterflies #2/Radioactive specimens.
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Mating Butterflies #2/Radioactive specimens.

© Christopher Rodriguez - Glowing Ice #2/Measuring particulate evidence.
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Glowing Ice #2/Measuring particulate evidence.

© Christopher Rodriguez - Image from the Afterlife photography project
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Golden Spike in Green and Yellow/A golden spike is a layer of sedimentary rock that marks the beginning of a new geological epoch.

© Christopher Rodriguez - Rock and Paint/Textures and evidence of participation
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Rock and Paint/Textures and evidence of participation

© Christopher Rodriguez - Purple Dust/Everything is covered in white sediment that may cause respiratory issues.
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Purple Dust/Everything is covered in white sediment that may cause respiratory issues.

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