New Ore II
Daishi Luo
2024
Brass, copper, copper oxide substance formed through controlled oxidation, lapis lazuli, obsidian, polished stainless steel, aluminum alloy frame
L 250 cm x H 100 cm x D 4 cm
W all sculpture

New Ore explores how contemporary art can foster new forms of material life through the collaboration between industrial manufacturing and biological growth.

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This series takes mass-produced copper plates — symbols of industrial precision and standardization — as its starting point. Through laser-cutting technology, the copper is divided into slender, varied units, transforming rigid material into potential “growth vessels.” Within these vessels, I cultivate artificial “natures” by introducing plant-based and mineral media under carefully controlled conditions.

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What emerges appears at first glance to be organic — crystalline surfaces reminiscent of natural minerals or geological formations. Yet these are not products of untouched nature, but rather hybrid entities born from the entanglement of technology and ecology.

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New Minerals challenges our habitual perceptions of the world. It invites us to rethink the blurred boundaries between the artificial and the organic, the manufactured and the naturally occurring. In an era where everything seems possible to fabricate, this work raises a quiet but essential question: what does “nature” mean when it is shaped, guided, or even reinvented by human hands?