About
kika.echeverria@gmail.com
with Carlos Sfeir
sound installation
Gunpowder was ignited, leaving mineral traces along a copper surface. Sparks danced in a rumbling red glow. The heated metal emitted low and resonant sounds, while the fire faded away. Sizzling traces left behind by the flame cooled, crystallising the experience into sound.
The long metal plate echoes the low frequencies of what has been witnessed. A present sound that not only recalls what has been missed, but also what has become.
At the centre of the installation, a suspended copper sheet becomes the stage for a ritual: the artists drew a line of gunpowder across its surface and set it alight, producing a fleeting burst of fire, vibration, and sound. Contact microphones captured every trace, turning the act into an evolving soundscape.
Rooted in the charged landscapes of Chile's Atacama Desert, the work transforms the elemental forces of fire and metal into a site where creation and devastation coexist, inviting us to critically question the narratives about technology and to develop our own stories.
We invited our friends to gather around the fire.
Outside our studio in Berlin, we placed a long sheet of copper, and we drew a line of gunpowder on it.
Before the dusk fell, we read a poem by Gabriela Mistral, and then the ignition took place.
COBRE
Están redimiendo el cobre
con las virtudes del fuego.
De allí va a salir hermoso
como nunca se lo vieron
las piedras que eran sus madres
y el que lo befó por necio.
Suba el Padre Cobre, suba,
que naciste para el fuego
y te pareces a él
en el fervor de tu pecho.
Todavía, todavía no confiesas
el secreto del amor y de la fiebre
que está en tus piedras gimiendo.
Nadie te habrá dicho hermoso,
porque el pecho no te vieron.
Día a día te volviste
la pobre piedra quedada,
la pobre piedra que duerme
y dura y odia la llama,
y eres, ya, todos tus muertos
antes de ser sepultada.
Helados llanto y sonrisa,
la oración y la palabra,
el amanecer, la siesta
y la oración no arribada.
Ya es lo mismo, ya es igual
la mudez que la palabra.
Gabriela Mistral
We extend our enormous thanks to the
Ministerio de las Culturas, las Artes y el Patrimonio and the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores (Gobierno de Chile).
Acknowledgements:
Ars Electronica Team, especially to:
Lisa Shchegolkova, Hyerim Son, Pablo, Emil, Adan and Simon;
to Metallplus UG, and all of our friends who shared the fire with us.
Ministerio de las Culturas, las Artes y el Patrimonio and the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores (Gobierno de Chile).
Acknowledgements:
Ars Electronica Team, especially to:
Lisa Shchegolkova, Hyerim Son, Pablo, Emil, Adan and Simon;
to Metallplus UG, and all of our friends who shared the fire with us.
The Echoes of Prometheus was exhibited as part of the theme exhibition “PANIC yes/no”
of Ars Electronica Festival 2025
in Linz, Austria.
of Ars Electronica Festival 2025
in Linz, Austria.