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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.
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.
© Emilia Martin
“The meteorites do not only close the gap between the outer space and our familiar Earthly surroundings, but also transgress what is seen as ordinary and sacred, what is seen as mythical and true.”
The artist's approach is based on extensive and careful research—Martin brings together archival photographs, collected stories, facts, and staged imagery inspired by folklore and local myths. The interplay between image and text resists easy classification, blurring the line between fact and invention. Through this, the project opens space for rethinking not only scientific truth but also the frameworks that govern knowledge itself.
The artist's approach is based on extensive and careful research—Martin brings together archival photographs, collected stories, facts, and staged imagery inspired by folklore and local myths. The interplay between image and text resists easy classification, blurring the line between fact and invention. Through this, the project opens space for rethinking not only scientific truth but also the frameworks that govern knowledge itself.
Published as a photobook by Yogurt Editions in 2024, the work adopts the visual language of a fairytale, drawing the viewer into a world where storytelling becomes a way of reclaiming agency. The meteorite appears not just as a celestial object, but as a carrier of human dreams, projections, and contradictions—a symbolic rock that continues to fall into our present.
Martin's practice underscores the importance of speculative narratives in understanding our world, advocating for a more inclusive and critical engagement with the stories that shape our perception of reality.
Martin's practice underscores the importance of speculative narratives in understanding our world, advocating for a more inclusive and critical engagement with the stories that shape our perception of reality.
"I Saw a Tree Bearing Stones in a Place of Apples and Pears" by Emilia Martin
Published by Yogurt Editions
Cover Artwork:
Mattia Ammirati
Design:
Francesco Rombaldi
Yogurt Creative Agency
Printed by Grafiche Veneziane, Venezia
Print Run: 700 copies
Published by Yogurt Editions
Cover Artwork:
Mattia Ammirati
Design:
Francesco Rombaldi
Yogurt Creative Agency
Printed by Grafiche Veneziane, Venezia
Print Run: 700 copies
Emilia Martin (1991) is a Polish artist and photographer based in The Hague, Netherlands. Working with images, writing, and sound, her practice explores how the stories and myths shape the realities and systems we create and inhabit. Rooted in the belief of the power of storytelling informed by her ancestral roots, she investigates rituals and mythologies, examining how they shift and carry histories. Through her work, she aims to complicate binary understandings of fiction and truth and their established aesthetics.
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