Earthing Discharge (#7-10) —
2021

Marjolijn Dijkman, Earthing Discharge #8, 2021 (coal) Fujiflex print 110 x 100 cm.

Depth of Discharge is a series of four photos  depicting items associated with technology and energy use —minerals, circuit boards, and personal devices. Dijkman’s labor-intensive process involves activating the conductive matter using high voltage electricity and photographing them through conductive glass used in touchscreen technologies.

The resulting blue and purple halos and irregular linear rays, a phenomenon known as corona discharge, is caused by the ionization and electrical disturbance of adjacent air. The photographs makes visible electric currents that we rarely see, calling attention to the systems of extraction that support most of the world’s modern energy, communication, and mobile computing technologies.

Marjolijn Dijkman, Earthing Discharge #10, 2021 (coal and spodumene with lithium) Fujiflex print 110 x 85 cm.