The gift exercise / Invitation 8: Nitrogen

In a long-term research, Willimann/Arai investigate the history of human interaction with the chemical element nitrogen. In this history, nitrogen – which is essential for the reproduction of life and for biological growth – paradoxically turns into an agent of destruction.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Haber Bosch process made synthetic ammonia available at low cost and in unlimited quantities. This nitrogen coumpound is crucial for the industrial production of artificial fertilizer and explosives, but also serves as a basis for other industrial processes, including the imaging technique diazotype – a precursor of today's copying machines.