Gold is an age-old symbol of beauty, power and wealth. When Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro captured the Inca leader Atahualpa at the Battle of Cajamarca in 1532, the captive emperor offered to fill a 6.70 x 5.18 metre room with the precious metal in exchange for his freedom. For Pizarro, this was a promise of immense riches; for Atahualpa, it was an important spiritual offering. Different cultures have attributed a range of values to the ore throughout human history. The past continues to inform our present relationship with an element that can be found everywhere – from our computers to NASA spacecrafts.
The fact that we continue to see it as highly valuable, even today, prompts the question: why has it been so significant throughout history? British artist and researcher Lisa Barnard (b. 1967) looks at various answers in her latest project, The Canary and the Hammer. In the wake of the 2008 financial crash, Barnard reflected on “the western world’s determination to accumulate wealth” and the role of this metal in our “ruthless endeavour for progress.” She travelled across four continents over four years to document the troubled history of the prized ore and the complex ways in which it intersects with the global economy.
The element can be found everywhere – from computers and mobile phones to renewable solar cells and NASA spacecrafts. One image spotlights a motherboard in saturated shades of cyan, green, pink and turquoise. The piece speaks to the presence of the metal in common electrical devices like cameras and TVs. Only 22.3 percent of e-waste is recycled; the rest ends up in landfill, often in developing countries, where people risk exposure to toxic substances whilst attempting to extract the material to sell.
Elsewhere, we see how gold has helped us reach new frontiers. In one shot, we see a spectrograph planted on the moon’s surface and fixed on a point far beyond the bounds of the frame. The gleaming apparatus was first used in the 1972 Apollo 16 mission to take ultraviolet images of solar winds, gas clouds, galaxy clusters and more. Barnard’s investigation shines a light on the long-established and far-reaching story of gold, as well as its entanglement with the issues of capitalism, colonialism and the climate emergency.
Fotomuseum Den Haag, The Canary and the Hammer | 31 August – 1 December
Words: Diana Bestwish Tetteh
Image Credits:
- Lisa Barnard, Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVC). Invented by George Robert Carruthers. Photographed at NASA, Johnson Space Centre, Houston. 2015.
- Lisa Barnard, CPU and Motherboard, Hong Kong. 2016.
