Magna Mutatio / Yamaneko

Magna Mutatio / Yamaneko explores a tropical storm that occurred in the fall of 2022 from 13:00 on 10 November to 19:00 UTC+1 on 14 November, approximately 276 NM north of the coral atoll of Wake in the North Pacific Ocean. It was a tropical cyclone - an atmospheric formation in the form of a large-scale vortex with a characteristic eye in the centre - a so-called hurricane. 

Unlike previous works, Yamaneko focuses on immediate, current events. The tropical cyclone is a phenomenon that is quite unique in place and time. In the case of Yamaneko, it was less than five days. It is not a change of landscape, a development of a body of water, a transformation of the natural world. It is a phenomenon without human input. But it remains a driving force in the context of what is observed. At one point, due to the low air pressure and the heat released from the condensing water vapour, an enormous concentration of energy begins to form.

Although the causes of the storms are de facto predictable in our observations, their course is not. 

The potential of a storm, an electro-static phenomenon, a relative meteorological anomaly, is not of long duration; it exhausts itself, calms down, and gradually disappears irreversibly. If, as in the case of Yamaneko, it is a cyclone passing only over the ocean, nothing will be left of it.

Its implications will be reflected in other forecasts for some time. Even its name, assigned by man, will be forgotten as it arose, passed and disappeared completely outside of human settlements.

Magna Mutatio / Lake MacKay

Magna Mutacio is the title of a series of works that explore the transformation of a selected territory over time, specifically the transformation of cities, landscapes, bodies of water and glacial formations. European Space Agency satellite data are used for this analysis. The transformation of the territory is mapped, which, given its size and the long period of observation, could not be perceived from the viewer's perspective. The work thus offers a macro view of the subject.

Magna Mutatio / Lake MacKay traces the three-year cycle of this salt lake. MacKay is located in the middle of the desert on the border of the states of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The lake is classified as an ephemeral body of water, which means it only exists during and immediately after rainfall, drying up the rest of the year. Precipitation and subsequent evaporation gives the lake its changing cycle.

Several dominant phenomena can be observed within the ecosystem of this reverse island. Seasonal islands of desert vegetation and algae appear on the surface of the lake, drawing moisture from the lowest parts of the lake where the water is still holding. As the water rises and evaporates, salts and minerals rise to the surface, causing the white colour of the lake basin.

Magna Mutatio / Lake MacKay / Insulae

The work Magna Mutatio / Lake MacKay / Insulae focuses on seasonal islands in the northeast of the lake.

Magna Mutatio / Lake MacKay / Ora

The work Magna Mutatio / Lake MacKay / Ora Closer explores the southern shore of the lake.