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Julie Mecoli's Bitumen Sculptures Look Like Melting Molasses

Crafted using one of the world's oldest building materials, Julie Mecoli's bitumen sculptures prove that nothing lasts forever.

Julie Mecoli likes things that take time. The artist and academic from Detroit will be showcasing her Dark Matter: Cities sculptures in the upcoming Dutch Electronic Art Festival, which kicks off on Wednesday, May 21. Made from bitumen, a gooey petroleum derivative that moves like molasses over extended periods of time, her pieces are based upon a science experiment that feels like it has been going on forever, pretty much because it has. It’s called the pitch drop experiment, and, more specifically, it’s the longest-running lab experiment in the Guinness World Records.

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Basically, the pitch drop experiment is a black blob in a glass funnel. Back in 1927, the physicist and professor Thomas Parnell kicked off the experiment at the University of Queensland to show the viscosity of bitumen, also known as pitch. At the rate of one drop of goo every ten years or so, in almost a century, it has dropped nine times. April 17 was a landmark moment; after 13 years of waiting, the ninth drop dripped.

Mecoli’s sculptures are the same, but different: instead of blobs of black goo, she has carefully shaped individual masses of bitumen to look like city skylines. Mostly sourced from California’s Rancho La Brea tar pits and areas of southern Iraq, with eyesight alone, it’s almost impossible to notice the progressive decay of her sculptures. They act as apt metaphors for urban decay; from her sculpture of the bankrupt and perpetually recovering city of Detroit, to the skyline of the overwhelmingly expensive city of London, the "melting" processes that take place look almost deliberate in their own natural decompositions. Over time, and without notice, you can see the formless remains of Big Ben sinking into itself. To Mecoli, this isn’t a depressing outlook on the metropolis, but a comment on the how the transformations taking place within cities seem neverending.

This isn’t the first time Mecoli has played with bitumen, either. Back in 2009, she created a mastaba and a ziggurat, photographing them from their stiff beginnings to their devolutions all over art gallery pillars. Now that she's putting her new cities on display, Mecoli spoke to us about carbon footprints, her recovering hometown of Detroit, and what it means to make artworks that last for years:

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The Creators Project: I’m curious as to why you choose these cities you have chosen. What is your view of London today, is it decaying?

Julie Mecoli: Dark Matter: Cities – London and Dark Matter: Cities – Detroit refer to two iconic cities and places of importance to me. I was born and grew up in the Detroit area and continue to observe its industrial decline and struggle for rebirth. Detroit serves as a metaphor for the decline of western industrial power. Much of my adult life has been spent living and working in Southeast England where London serves as the capital of what was once a great imperial power now, inevitably in decline. London serves as a metaphor for that empire but is not in decline as a city. The pieces are not decaying but rather are in a state of transformation and change and like all things, are tending toward entropy.

How long will these sculptures last at DEAF? Depending on the bitumen, they can last days or weeks.

All of the sculptures are moving. Dark Matter: Cities – London and Dark Matter: Small House are made of 95/25 bitumen that is similar to that used in the Pitch Drop Experiment and, like the pitch in the experiment, will move over decades. The correct term for that movement is ‘creep.’ Dark Matter: Cities – Detroit is made of a blend of 95/25 and 70/100 bitumen so it has initially moved more quickly, but will also take decades to completely lose form. The perception of gradual change means we may tend not to notice what’s happening but things are changing nonetheless.

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How did you feel when the Pitch Drop Experiment finally fell in 2013?

I first came across the experiment when researching information about bitumen. Later, I had the good fortune to meet Professor John Mainstone who was custodian of the UQ Pitch Drop experiment and to see the experiment at UQ. He did not see any of the drops fall while he was caretaker. The ninth drop fell a few weeks ago, marking a small event in a process of change. There is more bitumen in the funnel and so the experiment continues beyond the lives of its originator and other caretakers.

Did you make the bitumen yourself, or was it sourced?  

Bitumen is a material that has been bubbling out of the ground in Southern California, Southern Iraq and other sites around the world for thousands of years. It is also one of the oldest materials used in building. Most of the bitumen available is used in the construction industry. The bitumen I use is from the same source. I do mix different grades together to get a range of ‘speeds.’ The physical properties of the material continue to interest me. There is a lot more to be explored.

Why did you choose to melt a ziggurat on a pillar in a gallery?

The Dark Matter sculptures are of archetypal man-made features, buildings and cityscapes. The ziggurat is one of the oldest man-made structures. Usually they were massive temples or shrines. A ziggurat made of bitumen, one of the oldest building materials in the world, will not last. Although the ziggurat looked as though it was melting, it was not. The bitumen was ‘creeping’ and eventually left what looked like a ruin. The plinths are a conventional way of presenting sculptures and drawing attention to their objecthood. In this case, the plinth draws attention to a sculpture that does not behave in a conventional manner: it’s not vertical, it’s a base material, it is not an ‘object’ and it is not particularly viable. The plinth is propping up something that won’t last.

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How have your viewpoints on cities changed since making these pieces?

Bitumen is a petroleum derivative. Dependence on fossil fuels to run society anywhere is unsustainable. I am working on a piece that incorporates other cities where I have left my carbon footprint.

In this way, do you feel Detroit can recover from its meltdown?

Absolutely. Detroit has its share of problems and challenges but there is a lot going on and many people working hard to find sustainable ways forward. What emerges may not look like the Detroit of the past, but another Detroit will emerge.  It’s exciting to watch this post-industrial experiment develop.

Finally, why don't you live in any of the cities you’ve chose to represent with bitumen?  

Both Detroit and London are important places to me. At this time in my life, a range of circumstances have led me to live elsewhere.

Check out Julie Mecoli’s work here. You can see her work live at the Dutch Electronic Art Festival in Rotterdam from May 21 to June 9.

Follow @nadjasayej on Twitter.

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