In some remote corner of the universe, poured out and glittering in innumerable solar systems, there once was a star on which clever animals invented knowledge. That was the highest and most mendacious minute of “world history” — yet only a minute. After nature had drawn a few breaths the star grew cold, and the clever animals had to die.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Forever and forever

Heliography for my sons

Dissolve 3 grams of Syrian asphalt in 15ml of lavenda oil. Wait a few days. Deposit the emulsion onto a tin plate with a brush. Get it dry on a pre-heated cast-iron plate for about 20 minutes. Expose to light for about 2-3 days. Rinse the unsolidified emulsion with terpentine or lavenda oil.

 Joseph Nicéphore Niépce called this process heliography and described it in ‘Notice sur l’Héliographie’ in 1829. It is the first photographic process that enables to record reality on a metal plate from an optical darkroom (camera obscura)

Here you will find asphalt works (Héliographie) by Przemek Zajfert, made in a process developed by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in years 1822 to 1826/27. Each work is unique and due to the imperfection of the technique, chance creates its own interpretation of reality.