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Vital Mud
APERTURE FIRST BOOK SHORTLIST
BEST DUTCH BOOK DESIGNS
  • Hiske Altena (NL)

Regular
 35
Signed
 40
217 × 304 mm
144 pages
English
Otabind softcover with folded inlay
TEC109
First edition: 1000
9789492051974
  • Vital Mud - The Eriskay Connection
  • Vital Mud - The Eriskay Connection
  • Vital Mud - The Eriskay Connection
  • Vital Mud - The Eriskay Connection
  • Vital Mud - The Eriskay Connection
  • Vital Mud - The Eriskay Connection
  • Vital Mud - The Eriskay Connection
  • Vital Mud - The Eriskay Connection
  • Vital Mud - The Eriskay Connection
  • Vital Mud - The Eriskay Connection
  • Vital Mud - The Eriskay Connection
  • Vital Mud - The Eriskay Connection
  • Vital Mud - The Eriskay Connection
  • Vital Mud - The Eriskay Connection
  • Vital Mud - The Eriskay Connection

Concept and photography:
Hiske Altena

Editing:
Hiske Altena
Ellen Sanders
Karianne Bueno

Text:
Hiske Altena
Merel Bem (cover)

Text editing and translation:
Daisy Hildyard

Design:
Esther de Vries

Lithography:
Marc Gijzen

Print and binding:
Wilco Art Books (NL)

Supported by:
Mondriaan Fund
Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds
Fotodok
Municipality of Amersfoort

With the photographic project Vital Mud, Hiske Altena (NL) explores the theory that life on Earth once began in clay. In the 1980s, her uncle, a now-retired geologist, found an unusual rattle stone. In this stone, he discovered organic-looking structures that he could not explain with existing geological theories. However, the alternative so-called “clay hypothesis”, according to which clay helped the evolution of early life forms, seems to offer a better explanation.

What will these first life forms have looked like? As large slimy tree-shaped structures or perhaps as giant floating zeppelin-like gas bubbles? Rattle stones, clay crystals, the life cycle of bacteria, and large oval shapes in the American landscape are all possible evidence for the hypothesis that life once originated in clay. Perhaps this even explains the similar shapes and descriptions that keep recurring in old fairy tales, myths, and religious stories.

Vital Mud takes this theory as its starting point. It is the foundation on which Altena builds a collection of images that changes our perspective, makes us look again, and wonder about what humans are capable of. She reminds us that science is a continuous search for the unknown, and that perspective shifts, just as it does in art.

The book’s dummy was shown at exhibitions and festivals around the world, was shortlisted for several awards, including the Paris Photo/Aperture PhotoBook Award, and was selected as one of the Best Dutch Book Designs of 2021.

Hiske Altena is a Dutch image maker. Her work stems from a fascination with how we relate to things that differ from what is generally accepted. Belonging, questioning the norm, curiosity, and the power of imagination are central themes in her work. To show the fun and value of a different perspective, she plays with our image of reality. Her work is often a combination of – often staged or manipulated – photographs, collages and found footage.

  • Aperture–Paris Photo Book Awards 2022 (First Photobook Shortlist)
  • Best Dutch Book Designs 2021 (Selection)

“This whimsical volume challenges us to tease out fact from fiction, while also highlighting the seductive possibilities of imagination and creative storytelling.” (Lesley A. Martin)

Aperture

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