Tierra/soil is part of a video series in which I do actions for the camera, exploring the subject of violence and vulnerability. Closeness to the earth implies being close to life and death, to the visceral. The landscape is source of ideas of identity, dreams of belonging, but also nightmares when confronted with the side of it that partakes in the real; when one gets too close, blurring the boundaries that keep one safe. Land has been a recurrent source of conflict and death, An image evoked with this video is that of mass graves, despite of the clean setting and white background. In the video, I take the soil trying to engage in minimal movement or expression. The openness of the mouth, however, gives a sense of willingness to receive the dirt. It is a situation that is not resolved, as the soil keeps falling and accumulating. The soil comes from above, as a kind of fate.

Artist: Julieta Maria.

This video forms part of A Light at the End of the Tunnel, an epic video art trilogy about the human condition which includes seminal works by 30 international emerging artists, and was curated by Perpetual Art Machine (www.perpetualartmachine.com).

The show debuted at Scope Basel 2010 (June 15 - 19, Kaserne), while premiering simultaneously on Babelgum.

To find out more, visit babelgum.com/newvideoart.