"20°32'50.4"S 67°22'57.6"W" (2022) HD Video, Three-Channel Video, Stereo, 13.06 mins.

Shot on location in Bolivia, prior to the military coup in 2019, "20°32'50.4"S 67°22'57.6"W" (2022) is the product of extensive research into the lithium economy, our increasing dependence on it as an energy source within laptops, mobile phones, and, most significantly, its role in the next global shift in transport: the electric car. The video focuses on the landscape of the ancient Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt lake in the world, and an area with the largest global reserves of lithium, deep within its ancient salt crust.

"20°32'50.4"S 67°22'57.6"W" observes this ancient, psychedelic landscape as a means of exploring not just its exploitation for digital industries, but also the legacy of lithium as a psychotropic drug—an affective and mysterious treatment for mental health issues, drawn from the artist's personal history and experiences while working within social care. The work examines the large industrial evaporation pools on the salt flats that slowly create lithium carbonate, a substance increasingly referred to as ‘white gold.’ Once considered to be one of the deadest parts of the world, the salt flats present Bolivia with an opportunity to take ownership of an economy that could vastly increase the country’s wealth—an interesting twist on the legacy of colonialism that still haunts the history of its natural resources. Hands and traces of hands are used as a recurring symbol to tie together reflections on inherited mental health issues, the digital economy, the landscape, and mediation.

Pattern, form, color, and texture are utilized to explore the politics of surface, time, and materiality. 20°32'50.4"S 67°22'57.6"W is a psychedelic, hypnagogic film about energy and the forming of both internal and external landscapes. A soundtrack for the work, Modern Living, is available from Café Oto's in-house label here.

Shot on location in Bolivia, with additional camera work by Hania Stella-Sawicka and Johnny Alaho.
With the support of Arts Council England, Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB), UAL, and Loughborough University.