Esteatite

Mixed Media Installation

Digitalprints,
Lightbox,
400 Copies of „Esteatite“,
400 Razorblades,
400 bags of talcum powder

Brazil / Germany 2017/2018









Book Esteatite,
    Double Pages. 
    German, Portuguese,
    English, Spanish

    Text by Marie-Hélène Gutberlet

    Graphic Design by
    Diogo Duda & Janusch Ertler

    Photographies by Janusch Ertler

pdf︎︎︎︎

    Esteatite investigates the aesthetic-economic potential of the white brasil soap stone. It is a material that is used for sculptural creation but mostly serves as a primary material for the cosmetic industry as the base for powders and make up.

    The work consits of a photographic series installed on the walls that shows a refining process of a brasil soap stone. The photographs show several stages of the stone being treated in order to perfect its natural form. In the middle of the room every visitor was invited to pick up a book free of charge. The book consits of a photographic research trip into Minas Gerais, Brazil the area where the brasil soap stone is being won.

    The book consits of a photographic research trip into Minas Gerais, Brazil the area where the brasil soap stone is being won.


    All the pictures were taken with analog cameras, using a Kodak Potra or Ektar film, which for decades were the standard film for portrait photography and until today are being advertised as being fitted “for excellent skin tones“. The pictures are accompanied by a text from a friend that is printed in its original German with translations into Portuguese, Spanish and English. Every book also be- ars two further elements that are glued into the middle of the book; a razorblade and a transparent bag full of talcum powder that was won as a residue when shaping the stone shown in the photographs on the walls.



© Janusch Ertler 2022