Skin Bark

Produced in Las Rabonas, Province of Córdoba, Argentina.

Dialogues with the inhabitants of the area have been of great inspiration and information for the creation of this work, which arises from the problems in the territory due to the repeated fires and clearing of native forests. The presence of lithium in their soils – among other reasons – is a focus of interest for mining, motorways and other political-business actions, in the face of which the inhabitants are mobilised to stop their advance.

The intervened space is a 3/4 hectare forest made up of various plant species including a couple of old trees, which are the main source of food and wisdom of the forest. According to the theory of mycorrhizae, there is an underground network that unites and communicates the plants and trees of each forest, and it is the larger ones that provide nutrients and information to help the smaller ones.

Skin Bark is an attempt by a human to ask for help and advice from two ancestral trees with great knowledge. A human seed with her hands open to the sky waiting for rainwater to germinate. A lost human asking for roots to join this web of life, energy and information.

Selected to participate in the 11th Performance Encounter of Umbral Espacio de Arte (2021).

Performer: Julia Spinelli

Photography: Jesús Díaz

Location: Rubén De Noia

Graphic design: Mariana Ábalo

Idea, Direction: Julia Spinelli

Year: 2021