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Institute for Contemporary Art Research

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Marit Mihklepp: "Meteolore: Air Stones, Ground Holes" (2023)

I applied for IfCAR grant to support the preliminary research phase of my PhD project “Meteolore: Air Stones, Ground Holes”. Meteorites, their impact craters and resulting human perceptions, are the points of departure for this research project. I am interested if there might be ways of storytelling beyond human and how that can inform my artistic practice. I am also intrigued by the possible tension and collaboration between mythological and scientific knowledges. One of the starting points for this PhD project is a postcard found in the archive of The National Library of Estonia, depicting Kaali meteorite crater lake.

How could our bodies hold memories of and be affected by meteorite impacts? How do meteorites challenge and connect to our sense of self, community and home? How to include geologic bodies and imaginations in our lives, not only as artefacts and material resources, but also as companions, co-inhabitants of this planet, beings of their own right? What kind of new practices and rituals could grow out of meteoritic research?

The preliminary research phase included material experimentation and developing methods of storytelling that go beyond human time-scale and experience.

In July I took part of a two-day movement workshop in with Fine5 Dance Theatre to learn how to tune into my body and experiment with other bodies moving in the landscape. It took place in Dirhami village, in Estonia.

In August I went for a field trip at the Kärdla meteorite crater site in Hiiumaa, Estonia.

In between August 3rd and 6th I was searching for the traces of the meteorite crater, talking to local people and gathering plant and soil material

from around the Kärdla meteorite site for the ink extraction. I also visited Artesian wells

or pressurised groundwater taps, which is a gift from the Kärdla meteorite fall 455 million years ago. This water is held in high regard amongst the local people, and many have their own personal Artesian wells in their gardens.

Meanwhile I was planning the ink-making workshop with the designer and artist Greta Facchinato, who researching how we can re-learn our knowledge of color through the practice of sustainable ink-making, with the focus on printing techniques. On November 2nd we had a full-day workshop with Greta - making natural inks from the collected plants and soil of Kärdla meteorite site

We prepared three different inks for silkscreen printing

On November 6th we had a full day of preparing the silkscreen frame and my design, as well as the actual printing on different papers

These workshops took place in The Hague, The Netherlands.

I also had the first brainstorming session with the graphic designer and artist Anna Bierler, with whom we have initiated a geologic storytelling platform Stone Network. With Anna I will be working on a tactile/textile process tool, that would allow me to add and share parts of my research as it will naturally unfold.

Because of my research on meteorites, the curator Ann Mirjam Vaikla invited me to a residency “Celestial Bodies”, which took place from 27th of November until 17th of December, in Maajaam AiR and Tartu Observatory, in Estonia. I developed a script/text “wa(l)king the meteorite” to be read out real-time accompanied by a video experiment during the public event in Tartu Observatory on 15th of December.

IfCAR grant allowed me to focus on the first period of research on meteorites and their impact on land, folklore and memory. It was an inspiring beginning for my PhD project. I will definitely continue experimenting with making inks from the plants and soil around meteorite craters. In the future I want to focus on the aspect of the print itself and how to connect it stronger to the aspect of geologic storytelling and what it might bring forth.

It was a pleasure to experiment with text and voice – writing together a chain of stories, facts and findings in order to read/share it with the audience in Tartu Observatory.

In parallel to diving into archives and literature, I had the first occasion of approaching scientists – astrophysicists in Tartu Observatory –, which was fruitful, informative, but also confusing. I wish to continue learning how to best communicate my motivations to get both myself and the scientists out of their comfort zone, so we could actually start a meaningful collaboration.