Gold Came from the Sky: Golden Myths and New Ecologies of Knowledge in Contemporary Latin American Art

Abstract

Of extraterrestrial origin, created by supernova explosions and deposited on the surface of the Earth geological eras ago through meteorites, gold became the engine of the colonial extractivist enterprise. This process deeply marked the history of Latin America. For all these reasons, gold and, specifically, the legend of El Dorado, are recurring themes in contemporary Latin American art. Integrating cosmological, ritual, and indigenous knowledge with industrial processes, the works of artists such as the duo Mazenett Quiroga, Carolina Caycedo, and Juan Covelli (Colombia), Anna Bella Geiger and Laura Vinci (Brazil), and Pedro Terán (Venezuela) explore the interdependence of the North and the global South from a critical view of colonial history. In the context of the increasing environmental damage caused by mega-mining in the region, these artists enable alternative ways of understanding and valuing this precious mineral. They navigate between past and present, science and legend, relativizing the market value of their works. Using the contemporary conditions of digital technology production and cognitive capitalism as matrices of fiction and new ecologies of knowledge, they explore the connection between Latin American identity, different time scales, and non-human agencies in the Anthropocene.