Deep volcanic earth, gun powder, 

arid grasses, unripe peaches, 

garlic blossoms, bitter almonds. 

In mining jargon, spoil is the name given to the soil, rocks and ecosystems that lie above an area subjected to economic plunder. Stemming from expansive research on the socio-environmental impacts of and resistances to mining in the Americas, this sensuous, multidisciplinary installation explores the unsettling material remnants of colonial land exploitation. Incorporating Prieto’s diverse practice, Spoil meditates on different forms of life and death around Bajo la Alumbrera, Argentina’s oldest and most contested open-pit mining project, located in Catamarca, and operated by two Canadian mining companies. Spoil invites us into a sensorial encounter with the complex and indulgent textures of extraction.

Please note that some of the works in this installation are scented.

This project was developed with the generous support of Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council.