Unsuspecting influencers take selfies at the 'Spiagge bianche' (white beaches) of Rosignano Solvay as if they are on a tropical island. At this beautiful beach in Tuscany, the sand is unusually bright white and the water is light blue. However, this effect is caused by a nearby factory and is highly pollutive. The Belgian chemical company Solvay has been dumping its emissions into the Mediterranean Sea undisturbed for over 100 years. Arena Candidus Solvay, the new project by TINKEBELL, turns trash into beauty: the artist has created works using only these harmful materials on canvas.
The factory discharges its soda ash into a stream created for this purpose that leads directly to the sea. This material 'bleaches' the beach, so much so that it can be seen on satellite photos. It also severely decreases the area's biodiversity. Meanwhile, different heavy metals and other toxics that come out of the chimneys settle in the area, causing a higher risk of heart disease, neurological disorders and cancers among the local population. During several visits, TINKEBELL. dug the white soda ash directly from underneath the bottom of the trash river and collected vegetation from the Solvay site, such as pinecones and pine needles. Back in her Amsterdam studio, she used the factory's trash to create prints of the plants on prepared black canvas, thus making artworks that are deceptively pretty - just like the beach at Rosignano Solvay.
Arena Candidus Solvay is the follow-up to Flora Tata Metallica (2021-2022). With direct consequences for her own health, TINKEBELL. made an extreme amount of harmful emissions painfully visible through artworks made of metallic dust. She collected this material in the polluted area surrounding the Tata Steel factory in Wijk aan Zee (NL). The effects on public health caused by both factories are very similar, as is their sociological impact.
About the Artist
TINKEBELL. (1979, Goes) is (currently) saving the world. She researches frictions in our norms: how we behave, how we live, how we connect with each other; our position towards animals, the environment, the future of our food, phosphate issues, (social) media, refugee frames, politics, the clothing industry, multiculturalism, communication difficulties, the spreading of (fake) news, everything related to Fukushima and more. TORCH has worked together with TINKEBELL. since 2004, when she graduated from the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam. Since then she has worked, published and exhibited across the globe.