Pierre Huyghe Camata III, 2024

Taken by the artist just after sunset, Pierre Huyghe's photograph was taken during the production of the self-directed film by the same name, Camata, first presented at the Punta Della Dogana in 2024. Based on footage shot in the Atacama Desert, the film is continuously edited in real-time by Artificial Intelligence.

The photograph presents the site where the film was conceived. At the work’s center is a found skeleton located in that Chilean desert. The skeleton has exerted an ongoing fascination on the artist. It first appeared in a photographic work, Cerro Indio Muerto, 2016. The remains, which most likely were left undisturbed, except by the elements, have lain there since the early twentieth century. Parts of cloth, skin and hair are visible, much desiccated. From the clothes and chemical analysis of the remains, it was deduced to be those of a miner, to which the title also alludes: Chuquicamata, also located in the north of Chile, is the largest open pit copper mine in terms of excavated volume in the world.

Huyghe set up an AI-powered scenario at this extraordinary site. Akin to a miniature film set, the skeleton is surrounded by a semi-circular track. Inside, near the remains, two robotic arms near the skeleton are engaged in gestures, placing objects near the skeleton, removing them, pointing toward the objects and the landscape. One camera is on a robotic arm, one camera moves along the track and a third camera is placed outside the track, representing an inside and an outside onlooker or witness. A moving heliostat, its movements also choreographed by AI, is situated inside the circle the track suggests.