Days of Future Passed

In my wanderings I find signs, clues, the unexpected, the depressing and the hopeful. For years I have photographed and collected material of disappearance and desFtruction, whether natural in origin or man-made.

Days of Future Passed

We have created technologies to see and change smallest molecules, we get images of galaxies from 40 million light years away, every day we discover in the depths of the sea, the earth and the universe previously unknown and at the same time we destroy both our and most other organisms basis of life. Like a last gasp just before collapse, we catch a brief glimpse into the miracle of existence and witness it in shock.

We are not only the perpetrators of the sixth mass extinction, we document the decay, archiving in drawers the legacy we have destroyed for bacteria and fungi that will outlive us. We are searching the universe for ways to survive, while at the same time persistently infiltrating the deepest layers of the earth with toxins.

The primordial soup, however, continues to make new life possible, intermolecular forces evolve things still unknown to us, fungal spores fly to distant planets, and jellyfish unfold in their most perfect beauty.

Just as interdependence and interconnectedness of living beings have always existed, man-made materials additionally create novel adaptations and entanglements of the originally organic artificial and the solely organic.

In my wanderings I find signs, clues, the unexpected, the depressing and the hopeful. For years I have photographed and collected material of disappearance and destruction, whether natural in origin or man-made, transforming my studio simultaneously into an archive and a laboratory.

These photographs serve as a record of what once was, how and why it was destroyed and archived, what remains under the circumstances, forming novel symbiotic relationships and interdependencies, adapting, surviving and possibly healing.

This project is a candidate for PhMuseum Days 2024 Open Call

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© Florence Iff - algae, lichen, insects
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algae, lichen, insects

© Florence Iff - heap of cars, mushrooms, James-Webb picture of the universe
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heap of cars, mushrooms, James-Webb picture of the universe

© Florence Iff - catacomb painting, archived flamingos, Physarum Polycephalum
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catacomb painting, archived flamingos, Physarum Polycephalum

© Florence Iff - parrot nesting in concrete, giant fern petrification
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parrot nesting in concrete, giant fern petrification

© Florence Iff - extinct bird, moss-spores, mushrooms
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extinct bird, moss-spores, mushrooms

© Florence Iff - prehistoric coral, dried up ground, bird traces, algae and bacteria on wall
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prehistoric coral, dried up ground, bird traces, algae and bacteria on wall

© Florence Iff - precambrian rock sample, exceptional cloud formation, James-Webb picture of the universe
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precambrian rock sample, exceptional cloud formation, James-Webb picture of the universe

© Florence Iff - plastic waste, mold, Pterosaur
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plastic waste, mold, Pterosaur

© Florence Iff - plastic bags in tree, insect, jellyfish
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plastic bags in tree, insect, jellyfish

© Florence Iff - moonfish, bacteria, lichen on dam wall
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moonfish, bacteria, lichen on dam wall

© Florence Iff - microplastic, fish-petrification, mussels on plastic barrel
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microplastic, fish-petrification, mussels on plastic barrel

© Florence Iff - earth/moss/mold, disposed refrigerators, glass models of marine invertebrates
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earth/moss/mold, disposed refrigerators, glass models of marine invertebrates

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