The International Studio & Curatorial Program is pleased to present Alchemyverse: Messa in Luce, an installation of work developed in and about Chile’s Atacama Desert by resident collaborative artist duo Alchemyverse, curated by Jess Wilcox.

Join us for the Opening Reception on Thursday, June 29, 2023 from 6–8pm at ISCP.

True to the title’s meaning, Messa in Luce, brings to light what is typically beyond sight. With this immersive scale-shifting installation, Alchemyverse amplifies the universe’s “background noise” to promote an understanding of the Earth as an accumulation of particulate matter in a state of constant flux.

In this exhibition Alchemyverse probes the region’s reputation as the driest, sunniest place on Earth and host to large-scale scientific and technological infrastructure such as astronomical observatories and solar energy farms. Each ceramic tablet bears the measurement of solar irradiance in kilowatts per square meter recorded by NASA’s Atacama station on the date of its making and is sonified by conducting transmitters emitting field recordings of the dried river Rio San Pedro and abandoned mine, Mina Victoria. The artists invite exhibition goers to walk onto an elevated floor that vibrates with desert audio and houses artifacts from their field work, which can be viewed from above.