Pierre Huyghe
2009
Photograph
66.8 x 94.4 x 3.4 cm
Winsing Arts Collection

Pierre Huyghe
2009
Photograph
66.8 x 94.4 x 3.4 cm
Winsing Arts Collection
In March 2008, Pierre Huyghe journeyed to the Naica Mine in Mexico, accompanied by a mathematician, a shaman, a mineralogist, an animal trainer, and an algologist (a person who specializes in the study of or the treatment of pain). Located three hundred metres below the surface of the Earth, this spectacular natural environment was discovered in the year 2000 by miners. Known as the Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of Crystals), the once-flooded underground cavern is filled with some of the world's largest known selenite crystals, a form of transparent gypsum, some up to 11 metres long. The crystal cave existed, in itself, as in our fictions, before it presented itself to our reality. The day it was discovered, its mineral growth and its fictional existence ceased.
Due to the extreme temperature and humidity of the Crystal Cave, all visitors are equipped with special ice suits to maintain body temperature and respirator masks to enable breathing. The time allocated for exploration is brief; even with special equipment, the risk of death, heat stroke and exhaustion is high. Preceding Huyghe's descent, a shamanic ritual was undertaken. After the excursion, the witnesses produced drawings and artefacts relating to their encounter. This photograph is one of two images Huyghe captured on site. The artist is pictured asleep on a giant crystalline beam, surrounded by soaring obelisks and colossal mineral columns.
