Otobong
Nkanga
Alterscape Stories : Uprooting the Past, 2006-2016
Alterscape Stories : Uprooting the Past, 2006-2016

Otobong Nkanga
Alterscape Stories : Uprooting the Past, 2006-2016
C Print mounted on aluminium ( 3 x (114 x 114 x 4 cm) overall : 114 x 370 cm framed )
Edition of 7 ex + 2 AP

Otobong Nkanga
Alterscape Stories : Uprooting the Past, 2006-2016

Otobong Nkanga
Alterscape Stories : Uprooting the Past, 2006-2016

Otobong Nkanga
Alterscape Stories : Uprooting the Past, 2006-2016
Center

Otobong Nkanga
Alterscape Stories : Uprooting the Past, 2006-2016
Right

Otobong Nkanga
Alterscape Stories : Uprooting the Past, 2006-2016

Otobong Nkanga
Alterscape Stories : Uprooting the Past, 2006-2016
Solo exhibition view
MCA Chicago, USA
2018

1/7
«  Alterscapes Stories: Uprooting the past » refers to the erasing of the past and installing of the present and how these actions alter the landscape. 
The work was made as a triptych in order to refer to 3 temporalities with regards to the landscape visited, namely the past, the present and the possible future.
The far left image of the triptych is about the past which is just nature in progress without the influence of man; a landscape that has been formed by volcanic eruption following the natural process of transformation.
The middle image involves the human, uprooting a ruin. This ruined house is the remains of the servant quarters connected to the old 17th century manorial house - La Casa del Coronels -  in Fuerteventura. 
The far right image refers to a possible future where tall buildings are being installed without the consideration of its effect on the environment. The smoke coming out of the mountain is a reminder of the possibility of an eruption and everything could be destroyed.