The gift exercise / Invitation 8.2: Nitrogen – Substance of power

Within the framework of the durational online laboratory Colonial Endurance, Willimann/Arai have focussed on the key role of nitrogen in the colonial expansion of Europe and its toxic effects on the environment. In the frame of the exhibition at the Niewe Instituut in Rotterdam, they exhibited a 14 meters long strip of coated diazotype paper hanging from the ceiling. The paper strip displayed a text and diazoype reproductions of historical images from different eras depicting infrastructures created for the extraction, processing and production of nitrogen compounds.