Crystallizing the Void is a bio-generative installation that addresses the extractive crises of the high-altitude salt flat systems in the geographic area known as the Lithium Triangle. For the project, over a thousand satellite images were collected showing the transformations of these wetlands over the last three decades. Among them are several extinct lagoons that have been transformed into artificial salt flats.

By training a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) with the hydro-geo-morphological patterns from these images, an AI model was created that is both a machine capable of predicting the potential traces of the salt flats’ disappearance.

In the installation, the visualization and sonification of these images are generated by the timing and rhythms of the electrical activity sensed by three galvanic salt cells (redox), communicating with the generative model, while their evaporation slowly produces halite crystals or salt rocks.

In lithium extraction processes, the solar evaporation method is the most widely used, where salt flats are drilled to extract large quantities of brine, separating the minerals and altering local hydrological cycles and ecosystems. Thus, the replacement of fossil fuels with mineral resources represents the paradox of the energy transition. This project speculatively explores a possible interpretation of agency between minerals through contemporary technologies.