With the Past on the Left and the Future on the Right, 2023
Limpet shells, stainless steel | Dimensions variable (1695cm length)
Formed from calcium ions and carbon dioxide drawn from the ocean, limpet shells are threaded through the natural aperture that emerges at their peak as they erode, and suspended from the rocks that once sustained them.
When the snails die, their shells – made of calcium carbonate – break down into sand and sediment, settling on the seafloor and, over millions of years, becoming limestone. The cycle continues as this mineral, dissolved in seawater, provides the raw material for new shells.
Calcium carbonate constitutes approximately 4-5% of the Earth’s crust.