FERNANDO CASASEMPERE — SEDIMENTARY SELVES
FERNANDO CASASEMPERE - ARTIST FILM - CLIENT | BRITISH CERAMICS BIENNIAL - JUNE 25
[SYNOPSIS]
Through a fascination with the imprint left by humans on the earth, Fernando Casasempere draws on archaeology, geology, landscape and architecture to explore urgent global ecological and social concerns through the lens of his native Chile.
For Award 2025, Fernando presented an installation of boxes housing all the 'waste' he has kept in an effort to minimise his environmental footprint. From sculptures shattered in the kiln to accidentally broken pieces, he repurposed and installed these remnants — transcending them into new artworks documenting his creative journey.
[TRANSCRIPT]
"The north of Chile, the desert — when NASA want to go to the moon, they train in San Pedro de Atacama, because it's the nearest landscape to the moon. Sometimes it doesn't rain for a hundred years, and then one day it rains, and the next spring is full of flowers.
I was collecting all these broken pieces for years, I never threw them away. And suddenly I thought — that is the good way. I recycle my own waste.
The people who have seen this work make the connection in one moment. Like an archaeologist. That was not my intention. But suddenly you see it and say — oh, it's my own archaeology."
[CAST + CREW]
Created by Lucy Steel and Cameron Doig
Artist: Fernando Casasempere
Client: British Ceramics Biennial
Project Type: Artist Film
Exhibition: Award 2025, Spode Factory, Stoke-on-Trent
Year: 2025