A Few Minutes
2023 · Lumen Print on lith film and baryta paper · Dimensions variable
Iron is placed exactly. A chemical reaction then moves it, dissolves it, and the print keeps what happened rather than what was arranged.
The filings are laid down by a magnet under red light, covered with bicarbonate, sprayed with vinegar, exposed in sunlight and fixed. The magnetic field stays intact, but gas rising through the reaction carries the filings, and the iron dissolves into the emulsion and darkens it where it travels. Control ends at three points: the placement of the magnet, the strip or circle that sets a boundary, the moment the vinegar lands. Everything after that belongs to the reaction. At an enlargement the original sheets never had, each bubble edge becomes a separate event. Test prints have been made at several sizes. None is final.
