DUST WARNING (Does Albemarle know about this?) A feminist critique of extractive capitalism through liveness and location
Abstract
Lithium is the lightest metal on Earth and plays a critical role in battery and renewable energy technology that addresses climate change. Despite this progress, its mining infrastructure has ruinous effects on the land, peoples, and nature on the remote desert landscapes from which it is mined. The United States has some of the world’s largest lithium reserves, but only one active lithium mine. I visited the Silver Peak lithium mine in Nevada to conduct artistic fieldwork during the development of this project. The resulting performance and multichannel video installation reveals the contradictions of the uses of lithium for the viewer and forces an interrogation of its uses with the aim of enabling a realization and consideration of the audience’s relationship with this metal. This exploration of site through character offers a feminist critique of capitalism through the lenses of art, technology, and environment.