PURE

MIX

The installation Pure Mix is located in the industrial harbor of Kemi, Finland, at the northern edge of the Gulf of Bothnia—where the frozen land meets the frozen sea, around seventy-five miles south of the Arctic Circle. The serene landscape of Kemi’s harbor belies the growing specter of global climate change and the advancing consequences of pollution and ecosystem deterioration caused by the paper mill operating just across the inlet. Installed in the dead of winter, the piece consists of sea ice that was saw-cut and excavated into a reservoir that would accept a variety of designer waters cast into the resulting voids.

The organization of the grid plays with the notions of vice and virtue: in addition to familiar commercial brands, boutique waters enhanced with additives such as nicotine (Nico Water) and caffeine (Buzzwater) sit next to sacred waters sold with blessings or purported healing properties (Lourdes water from France, Jordan River water from Israel, and holy water from Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City). There are also waters with tenuous ties to the sacred and the profane, such as oxygen-infused OXYwater, electrolyte-infused Smartwater, and fat-burning Evamor water. North Korea’s Sindok, Iran’s Damavand, and Iraq’s Hayat occupy space alongside assorted premium brands from the United States, the UK, and Spain. Abe-e-Kabul from Afghanistan, Ein Gedi from Israel; and Nada from Palestine, join the top-shelf brands Voss Artesian and Borsec. Ciego Montero, Cuba’s only bottled water, aligns with Aquafina, America’s bestselling bottled water—sourced from Detroit’s public water supply—and Houston Superior, the self-proclaimed universally superior municipal water from Texas.

Each oversize cube of alien water bears a corresponding logo on its surface. The cubes are illuminated by LEDs embedded within each reservoir. Brooms are available so that viewers can sweep away snow accumulation. The physical life of this collection is tethered to Lapland’s frigid winters: the frozen waters are temporarily entombed in the gulf until the spring thaw returns them back to nature. Pure Mix is a reflection on the absurdity of water connoisseurship and the fragile balance between nature and commerce.

Pure Mix was created in collaboration with artist John Roloff as part of the inaugural Snow Show group exhibition curated by Lance Fung.