(H) by Daniel Martínez

(H) explores the paradox of Hydrogen, a life-giving yet brutal particle: omnipresent yet ethereal, polarised yet unifying.

Hydrogen was the first element to emerge after the Big Bang. The simplest and lightest of all chemical elements, accounting for around 90% of all atoms in the universe. It forms an integral component of the water molecule, covering nearly three-quarters of the Earth's surface and about the same proportion of the human body. In many ways, hydrogen underpins life; yet it is also used to create the most destructive weapon ever made; the hydrogen bomb, a destructive force far greater than that of the atomic bomb.

(H) brings together hundreds of images from diverse sources connected by hydrogen, including astronomy, botany, physics laboratories, hydrogen bomb detonations, and personal archives exploring water in its many forms.

Through careful sequencing, visual and conceptual links emerge, collapsing the distance between their disparate origins. A mushroom cloud might equally resemble a cloud, a dying star, or a microscopic form, suggesting a shared visual language that speaks to interconnectedness. The selected images were printed and rescanned at high resolution, revealing their halftone structure; tiny, isolated dots that, together, echo the particulate nature of matter itself.

About the Artist

Daniel Martínez (b. 1995, Barcelona, Spain) is a visual artist based in Switzerland, whose practice reflects upon environmental transformation and political ecologies in an era of global shifts. Working at the intersection of scientific knowledge, history, and nature, Martínez employs a conceptual, investigative approach that combines cross-disciplinary media. From a critical perspective, his work explores alternative epistemologies and questions dominant narratives to expand the comprehension of the environment and the sense of inhabiting it.