*Recipe for revealing images* is a reading that follows an action performed by Emilio Chapela in his studio in Berlin that lasted eight minutes and 20 seconds, the time it takes sunlight to travel from the Sun to Earth. During this time, a photographic paper coated in silver gelatin was exposed and developed simultaneously in plain daylight.
*Recipe for revealing images* (text below) was read aloud during the presentation of the Moon Circle (Berlin — Emilio Chapela). It evokes fragmented descriptions of nuclear reactions inside the sun, latent images, light, mining, ultraviolet instability, turmeric, developer, fixer, and the material histories embedded in photographic processes.
The piece was written by Alma Grossen somewhere between a recipe, scientific notation, laboratory procedure, and spoken poem. It attempts to trace some of the material transformations and deep temporalities that make a photographic image possible.
Moon Circle is a project in which participants — conspirators, witnesses, collectors — will accompany me in creating an ambitious artwork related to the Sun, which becomes part of their collections at the end of the cycle. The process unfolds across seven months, with gatherings, talks, performances, experiments, and artwork deliveries marking each full moon.
If you would like to join the Moon Circle or receive more information about future gatherings, please visit lunaserpent.com or contact me directly.
I used a 10 Mexican-peso coin featuring the Aztec Calendar of the Sun to block the sun and create a photograph that mimics the moon, which, paradoxically, is only visible to us because of light reflected from the sun.
As part of the evening, Emilio Chapela prepared a solar drink, a refreshing water he designed made with Turmeric/Kurkuma, which is sensitive to UV light from the sun. Get in contact to get the recipe!
We invite you to become part of Moon Circle by Luna Serpent. We hope you can join.
lunaserpent.com