IRON WATER ENGADINE

In the project “Iron Water Engadine” Bernd Nicolaisen examines the effects of oxidation processes and microalgae on stone structures, triggered and supported by escaping iron water.

In the Lower Engadine in Switzerland, the mineral water springs from the slate rock deep inside the earth. The so-called “sour water” dissolves various elements in the rock through which it flows, such as magnesium, sodium, potassium, calcium, sulfate and iron. After several years, or even decades, the water comes to the surface of the earth as mineral water. During this time, the water was enriched with iron, which is essential for human life in small quantities as a trace element.

Here, when the water emerges from the earth, exciting processes begin, triggered by microscopic organisms, which are the starting points for my new series of works. Iron is also an important part of the chemical building blocks of cells and contributes to algae growth. Microalgae use the light energy of daylight to oxidize water through photosynthesis. In the iron-rich water, these algae cover the rock surfaces and form colored deposits in lemon yellow, dark yellow, orange to red-brown shades.

These organisms, invisible to our eyes, are part of nature, which not only stand for the color intensive shine in the iron water, but also make the basis of life visible to us.

Similar to the lava sediments in the glacier ice of the project “residual light”, such color, shape and structure giving connections of the elements form, the basis for photographic abstractions.