Mark Yates
University of Tasmania
Tantalum – a rare, lustrous
blue-grey elemental metal, hard and dense, yet still malleable, allowing it to
be pressed and hammered into shape, without breaking or cracking. As Sean
O’Connell describes it – “…dark in colour, dense in weight, and gooey but hard,
like some deep-frozen brownie that is the tastiest ever. It looks like a leaden
storm cloud”.
Tantalum is highly corrosion resistant,
hypoallergenic, and biocompatible, making it a sought-after material to use for
jewellery, medical implants and industrial applications. It is often combined
with other materials to form durable alloys. Tantalum is also used in
electrical components in common household goods. While the inherent properties
of tantalum make it a valuable metal to form and sculpt, our perceptions of it
can also exist outside of the physical materiality.
Through Sean O’Connell’s Spark
Imaging Process, Tantalum is viewed as it is seen by energy, by allowing
electricity to flow through it. This method of ‘seeing’ allows us to consider
materials as an articulation of the world around us, rather than just a
resource to be exploited for physical objects to fulfil our own human desires.