600 kg


600 kg, 2021
Black obsidian
60 x 46 x 83 cm
Stone extracted by Alejandro Catelán at the Sierra de las Navajas



Obsidian is classified by mineralogy as glass, since its atoms do not make up a crystalline structure; it is hard and fragile, with an attractive luster, transparent and translucent, but its main characteristic is its straight and sharp type of fracture. Invoking both the fragility and the hardness of obsidian, 600kg is a one-piece-stone of more than half a ton hanging from a ceiling. Behind the simplicity of the action, lies a rather complex process of extraction, transportation and treatment of the material which represents a challenge among the mining industry. This exercise is conceived as a paradoxical action where chains and tackles contain a material that proposes a glance of the destruction caused by the techniques, processes and methods used to extract this mineral. Yet, it also suggests the rawness of the material and the artisan labour that must be put into it, in order to remain an important economic activity.