In the project I Saw a Tree Bearing Stones in a Place of Apples and Pears, artist Emilia Martin turns to the image of the meteorite as a central thread for exploring memory, mythology, and systems of power. Meteorites, bridging cosmic distances and earthly landscapes, operate here as ambiguous objects—at once scientific phenomena and vessels of belief. They cross the boundary between the ordinary and the sacred, between the mythical and the real.
Martin questions how the collective mythology is born. She notes that, although accounts of falling rocks were widespread, Western science only began to acknowledge meteorites as real in the late 18th century. This reveals something larger: who has the authority to define what counts as real? The project reflects on how dominant institutions have historically controlled such narratives leaving many voices unheard.