“sustenance” 2002
Desert Floor between Rissani and El Nif,
North West Sahara Desert, Morocco
The aftermath of a storm gave us the presence again of waterways as was once evidenced by ancient oceans. Fossilized Trilobites, Nautilus, Spiralled Snails, Geodes of every colour; magical treasures generally not recognized by the uninformed eyes were unexpectedly revealed to us. Fossils are markers of Geological time and the guide to the age of the rocks in which they are preserved; Relative Time marking the physical subdivisions of the Earth’s stratigraphy. It would be Time Itself that decided to treat our thinking to subtle changes in an otherwise normal sequence. This told us once again that the theory of relativity” was alive and working in the spaces between consciousness and reality.
Nine loaves of round flat bread were wrapped with a raw Moroccan wool. Both Bread and the wool are materials worked by women. Materials of sustenance and ritual: Bread, a daily staple served at every meal acts as both food and eating utensil. Wool is the material of rug making; a ritual process that marks the pathway of every individual women. (We unknowingly and randomly created this work seemingly feminine in character and process on Mother’s Day ... once again the theory of ‘relativity’ connects spaces in between).
The wrapped bread was put into the water. It immediately swelled exposing the line of the wool along its edges and yet maintaining its shape as a bundle; a gift. The continuously changing winds directed them back and fourth until they harbored along the waters edge. We returned several times over a period of several weeks to document the work: the water slowly evaporated returning the desert floors to a dried state and the bread to another fossilized layer on the desert floor.