Carbon Content 
Coal, optical lens, various plant life
External dimensions: 22 x 22 x 22 cm

Through the ages, lens based technology has enabled man to discover secrets of the universe hidden from the human eye. Carbon Content is a hand held optical sculpture, containing a peculiar plant life interior, referencing ideas about the carbon cycle and the formation of coal from compressed plant remains.  As one of the most abundant elements in the universe, present in all organic matter, Carbon is the chemical basis of all known life on earth. The 'aperture' has always provided us with a window that allows us in, to discover what lies beyond, in a new space, separate from our own… 

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour'

                                       - Auguries of Innocence, William Blake