Sarita Zaleha

risograph and laser printed accordion fold book, 2021
Photography by Seth Dahlseid.

This project explores the history of extraction in Minnesota with a list of every mine in the state. While Indigenous peoples have mined for pipestone for thousands of years in southwest Minnesota, beginning in the 19th century primarily white settlers have commercially mined for iron ore, taconite, manganese, silica, aluminum and other natural resources, quickly and cumulatively transforming the area. Today there are over 1300 registered mines in Minnesota.

Installed in 2021 at Minnesota Center for Book Arts, both as a print installation in the Outlook Gallery windows and as an accordion book in the Main Gallery exhibition, Solastalgia: Book Art and the Climate Crisis.

letterpress with vinyl cut pressure print, laser cut shapes, 10 x 27”, 2020

This print is part of the Mapping the Anthropocene exchange portfolio for SGCI Puerto Rico.

letterpress print installation, 2-channel video projection, captioned archival materials, photography, cyanotypes on handmade paper, 2020
Documentation by Kevin Colton.

something worth searching for explores the intertwined history of oil drilling and miner­al springs through the lens of a particular drilling effort in Geneva, NY. In 1885 in­vestors attempted to drill for oil but when water was tapped instead, it became the valued resource and was promoted, sold, and shipped widely. The 1880s marked a shift in human culture, as oil extraction ramped up worldwide and the automobile was introduced in the US. Oil and water are often posed as opposites that "do not mix," yet we find ourselves dependent on both, and we are confronted with the real risks that drills and pipelines pose to the arctic, US public lands, and local water­sheds.

Historic newspaper text figures prominently through an installation of letterpress printed enlargements of newspaper clippings tracking the drilling progress and dis­covery of water. The title-something worth searching for-is a quote from one of the newspaper accounts of the drilling operation. Video projections of tar bubbles make petroleum present, and the bubble takes on metaphoric qualities related to fi­nancial markets, opportunism, and failure. Cyanotypes enlarge the graphics used on the water's promotional labels and letterheads. Archival materials are arranged with captioned narratives drawing connections to contemporary experience.

helium balloons, anthracite coal, mesh air filter, video, 2017
Photography by Rik Sferra.

Part of the installation under/currents exhibited for Art(ists) on the Verge 8 (Northern Lights.mn & Jerome Foundation). Project statement:

Global warming is changing wind patterns. Due to warming temperatures at the poles, the jet stream has weakened, resulting in increased extreme weather events. This project explores the interaction between the Arctic as a specific place impacted by rising temperatures and human attempts to observe, control, and preserve the environment.

In under/currents, visitors are drawn to aspects of experience that are often overlooked: movement in the air, temperature shifts, alterations in smell, and the perception of time. A twenty-foot line of live arctic thyme spans the gallery wall, glowing under the artificial life support of grow lights. In a video projection, a hand holds a piece of wild arctic thyme. Nearby, cool air flows from an open refrigerator. In an adjacent gallery, helium balloons hover over a coal landscape, detecting drafts and making the moving air visible, while a video projection of global jet streams weaves across a mesh air filter. A mass of digital clock radios blink 12:00, as though there has been a blip in the power and the time needs to be reset. Gathered from a Google search data-collecting program, the radios’ speakers emit whispers of Google autosuggestions to questions drawn from different combinations of who/what/where/when/why/how and terms such as “the environment,” “climate change,” “the weather,” and “the wind.”

This project endeavors to dig into certain layers of human experience of the environment through encouraging a hyperawareness of anxieties around climate change and attempts to self-soothe through encounters with the natural world. While attuning visitors to subtle sensory perceptions in their surroundings and simultaneously prompting them to think about a geographic area where some of the most dramatic of these changes are occurring, under/currents invites a tension between the immediacy of climate change and its accumulated effects.

digital alarm clocks, arduino, raspberry pi, 20' x 8', 2017
Technical assistance from David Kaminski. Photography by Rik Sferra.

Part of the installation under/currents exhibited for Art(ists) on the Verge 8 (Northern Lights.mn & Jerome Foundation). Project statement:

Global warming is changing wind patterns. Due to warming temperatures at the poles, the jet stream has weakened, resulting in increased extreme weather events. This project explores the interaction between the Arctic as a specific place impacted by rising temperatures and human attempts to observe, control, and preserve the environment.

In under/currents, visitors are drawn to aspects of experience that are often overlooked: movement in the air, temperature shifts, alterations in smell, and the perception of time. A twenty-foot line of live arctic thyme spans the gallery wall, glowing under the artificial life support of grow lights. In a video projection, a hand holds a piece of wild arctic thyme. Nearby, cool air flows from an open refrigerator. In an adjacent gallery, helium balloons hover over a coal landscape, detecting drafts and making the moving air visible, while a video projection of global jet streams weaves across a mesh air filter. A mass of digital clock radios blink 12:00, as though there has been a blip in the power and the time needs to be reset. Gathered from a Google search data-collecting program, the radios’ speakers emit whispers of Google autosuggestions to questions drawn from different combinations of who/what/where/when/why/how and terms such as “the environment,” “climate change,” “the weather,” and “the wind.”

This project endeavors to dig into certain layers of human experience of the environment through encouraging a hyperawareness of anxieties around climate change and attempts to self-soothe through encounters with the natural world. While attuning visitors to subtle sensory perceptions in their surroundings and simultaneously prompting them to think about a geographic area where some of the most dramatic of these changes are occurring, under/currents invites a tension between the immediacy of climate change and its accumulated effects.

video, 2017

Part of the installation under/currents exhibited for Art(ists) on the Verge 8 (Northern Lights.mn & Jerome Foundation). Project statement:

Global warming is changing wind patterns. Due to warming temperatures at the poles, the jet stream has weakened, resulting in increased extreme weather events. This project explores the interaction between the Arctic as a specific place impacted by rising temperatures and human attempts to observe, control, and preserve the environment.

In under/currents, visitors are drawn to aspects of experience that are often overlooked: movement in the air, temperature shifts, alterations in smell, and the perception of time. A twenty-foot line of live arctic thyme spans the gallery wall, glowing under the artificial life support of grow lights. In a video projection, a hand holds a piece of wild arctic thyme. Nearby, cool air flows from an open refrigerator. In an adjacent gallery, helium balloons hover over a coal landscape, detecting drafts and making the moving air visible, while a video projection of global jet streams weaves across a mesh air filter. A mass of digital clock radios blink 12:00, as though there has been a blip in the power and the time needs to be reset. Gathered from a Google search data-collecting program, the radios’ speakers emit whispers of Google autosuggestions to questions drawn from different combinations of who/what/where/when/why/how and terms such as “the environment,” “climate change,” “the weather,” and “the wind.”

This project endeavors to dig into certain layers of human experience of the environment through encouraging a hyperawareness of anxieties around climate change and attempts to self-soothe through encounters with the natural world. While attuning visitors to subtle sensory perceptions in their surroundings and simultaneously prompting them to think about a geographic area where some of the most dramatic of these changes are occurring, under/currents invites a tension between the immediacy of climate change and its accumulated effects.

arctic thyme, thyme fragrance, grow lights, 10" x 20', 2017
Photography by Rik Sferra.

Part of the installation under/currents exhibited for Art(ists) on the Verge 8 (Northern Lights.mn & Jerome Foundation). Project statement:

Global warming is changing wind patterns. Due to warming temperatures at the poles, the jet stream has weakened, resulting in increased extreme weather events. This project explores the interaction between the Arctic as a specific place impacted by rising temperatures and human attempts to observe, control, and preserve the environment.

In under/currents, visitors are drawn to aspects of experience that are often overlooked: movement in the air, temperature shifts, alterations in smell, and the perception of time. A twenty-foot line of live arctic thyme spans the gallery wall, glowing under the artificial life support of grow lights. In a video projection, a hand holds a piece of wild arctic thyme. Nearby, cool air flows from an open refrigerator. In an adjacent gallery, helium balloons hover over a coal landscape, detecting drafts and making the moving air visible, while a video projection of global jet streams weaves across a mesh air filter. A mass of digital clock radios blink 12:00, as though there has been a blip in the power and the time needs to be reset. Gathered from a Google search data-collecting program, the radios’ speakers emit whispers of Google autosuggestions to questions drawn from different combinations of who/what/where/when/why/how and terms such as “the environment,” “climate change,” “the weather,” and “the wind.”

This project endeavors to dig into certain layers of human experience of the environment through encouraging a hyperawareness of anxieties around climate change and attempts to self-soothe through encounters with the natural world. While attuning visitors to subtle sensory perceptions in their surroundings and simultaneously prompting them to think about a geographic area where some of the most dramatic of these changes are occurring, under/currents invites a tension between the immediacy of climate change and its accumulated effects.

salvaged refrigerator, apples, radio, raspberry pi, 2017
Technical assistance from David Kaminski. Photography by Rik Sferra.

Part of the installation under/currents exhibited for Art(ists) on the Verge 8 (Northern Lights.mn & Jerome Foundation). Project statement:

Global warming is changing wind patterns. Due to warming temperatures at the poles, the jet stream has weakened, resulting in increased extreme weather events. This project explores the interaction between the Arctic as a specific place impacted by rising temperatures and human attempts to observe, control, and preserve the environment.

In under/currents, visitors are drawn to aspects of experience that are often overlooked: movement in the air, temperature shifts, alterations in smell, and the perception of time. A twenty-foot line of live arctic thyme spans the gallery wall, glowing under the artificial life support of grow lights. In a video projection, a hand holds a piece of wild arctic thyme. Nearby, cool air flows from an open refrigerator. In an adjacent gallery, helium balloons hover over a coal landscape, detecting drafts and making the moving air visible, while a video projection of global jet streams weaves across a mesh air filter. A mass of digital clock radios blink 12:00, as though there has been a blip in the power and the time needs to be reset. Gathered from a Google search data-collecting program, the radios’ speakers emit whispers of Google autosuggestions to questions drawn from different combinations of who/what/where/when/why/how and terms such as “the environment,” “climate change,” “the weather,” and “the wind.”

This project endeavors to dig into certain layers of human experience of the environment through encouraging a hyperawareness of anxieties around climate change and attempts to self-soothe through encounters with the natural world. While attuning visitors to subtle sensory perceptions in their surroundings and simultaneously prompting them to think about a geographic area where some of the most dramatic of these changes are occurring, under/currents invites a tension between the immediacy of climate change and its accumulated effects.

installation with vinyl text, video projection and sound, 2014

This installation explores ecotourists’ responses to glacial calvings. Glacial calving is a term that describes the event of the end of a glacier breaking off. While calvings naturally occur, global warming is causing increased calving frequency. This tiled video projection displays up to ten videos simultaneously, sampled from over 50 YouTube videos which document ecotourists’ experiences of glacier calvings. Each time the glaciers calve and crash into the water below, the tourists surprisingly erupt with laughter, cheers, and applause. This piece investigates emotional responses to climate change in order to better understand how we might be able to more effectively communicate the perils of climate change. 

This artist's book explores ecotourists’ responses to glacial calvings. Glacial calving is a term that describes the event of the end of a glacier breaking off. While calvings naturally occur, global warming is causing increased calving frequency. This book was inspired by YouTube videos that document ecotourists’ experiences of glacier calvings. Each time the glaciers calve and crash into the water below, the tourists surprisingly erupt with laughter, cheers, and applause. This piece investigates emotional responses to climate change in order to better understand how we might be able to more effectively relate to the perils of climate change. Available for purchase at blurb.com.

installation with video projection and transparent mirrors, 160” x 160” x 120”, 2015

While in Iceland in 2015, I created a 22’ wide net from torn strips of fabric. The landscape in Iceland is vast and the weather can be oppressive. Through photography and video of the net in temporary installations, the net becomes a device to relate to and see this unfamiliar place. This tactile network allows us to make connections and establish relationships with the environment and its elements.

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silkscreen monotype, 11" x 14", 2014

archival pigment prints, 36" x 54", 2015

While in Iceland in 2015, I created a 22’ wide net from torn strips of fabric. The landscape in Iceland is vast and the weather can be oppressive. Through photography and video of the net in temporary installations, the net becomes a device to relate to and see this unfamiliar place. This tactile network allows us to make connections and establish relationships with the environment and its elements.

screen print, 11" x 14", 2014

This print repeats the graph of global temperature increases to create an image of dripping and melting, recalling the icebergs that are being depleted by global warming. 

programmed (arduino) and sensor-activated interactive blanket, machine sewn quilt top, found objects, 24” x 100” x 100”, 2013

How do you feel global warming?

This sensor-activated heated quilt, positions participants as agents of temperature change. The rising temperature of the blanket corresponds to the data on global temperature increases, with 10 minutes of increasing blanket heat correlating to 100 years of global warming. The quilt-top is a graph of these global temperature increases from 1910-2010, showing an increase of roughly 1.5°F over this time span.

Mourning Global Warming is an interactive environmental social practice project that has been performed at several events in the United States and Iceland. At these events, participants embroider the names of hurricanes and typhoons. Once embroideries are complete, they are sewn into patchwork flags that are carried and displayed at climate change events. Past project locations have included the Walker Art Center’s Open Field in Minneapolis, MN; 516 Arts in Albuquerque, NM; Wesley Center/Public Space 1 in Iowa City, IA; People’s Climate March in Iowa City, IA; Trinity Church in Iowa City, IA; and Héraðsskólinn Hostel, Laugarvatn, Iceland.

Upcoming event: April 28, 2019 at Avenue 50 Studio in Los Angeles, CA. More info here.

Community-embroidered hurricane and typhoon names are sewn into patchwork flags for use at climate change events.

Images here are from the Iowa City People's Climate March, September 21, 2014.