This ingot, with its surface reflecting the characteristic peaks and valleys of the referenced hill, was designed using Google Earth, scaled to the shape of a gold ingot, and subsequently 3D printed. This work alludes to the anthropocentric and desecrating view of this hill. I envision this piece as a form of restoration or redress; therefore, it is part of an action, placing it at the foot of Famatina. If this ingot were truly made of gold, this action would be to return to this beautiful hill a tiny fraction of its bounty. How does one incorporate a processed gold ingot into a natural landscape? What would happen to it after millions of years? What place would it occupy in the mineral ecosystem?
In response to irregularities in mining agreements, a system is being considered in which rocks have rights (Haddow, 2014) to prevent the depletion or abuse of certain minerals and, consequently, the destruction of landscapes. It may take decades of work and awareness-raising for these initiatives to be effective, but the initiative exists.
Returning to the artwork "A Famatina of Light," this 3D-printed piece, mimicking gold ingots, is reproducible; we can make multiple copies. This is a characteristic and achievement of human technological development since the Industrial Revolution, but it contradicts the vulnerability of nature, whose creations are unique. No rock, mountain, or river is exactly alike (in the case of geological formations, as this is debatable in biology).
