Jonathan Falk

This Bitumen comes from a natural lake.

Guided by gravity and time, it slowly adjusts towards equilibrium, never fully solid nor liquid. It resists clear definition.

Its unpleasant smell, sticky texture, and connection to heavy industry trigger immediate associations: synthetic, harmful, unnatural. But are these impressions accurate?

This work explores Bitumen as a material full of contradictions: natural and industrial, ancient and modern, familiar yet misunderstood. It invites viewers to slow down and reflect on how materials are perceived, ultimately aiming to shift those perceptions and shape a new meaning.

Its role transfers from background infrastructure to active participant. It is no longer just a functional substance, but one that carries presence, history and agency.

The Bitumen used here is purely natural: Trinidad Epuré, sourced from the Pitch Lake in Trinidad and Tobago.

This work does not aim to define the material, but to hold space for its complexity and offer new ways of awareness.