Precious Metals

'Precious Metals' exhibited at Earthbound, Derby Museum of Making.

This project considers the materiality of silver and palladium, from their production within the cosmos, extraction from Earth and their uses within our society. This project focuses on silver and palladium use in photography, suggesting methods of using the materials that are less harmful to the environment.For this project, Melanie has produced silver gelatin photographic prints of the night sky using caffenol (coffee) developer. When fixed, the prints release silver into the photographic fixative. Alongside Dr Leah-Nani Alconcel at the University of Birmingham, Melanie has used electrolysis to safely reclaim silver from the fixer. This silver was then used to silver plate copper jewellery and circular sculptural pieces held within the vitrine. This process prevents silver from entering the water system and negatively affecting the environment.As part of this project, Melanie acquired silversmithing skills to produce jewellery from recycled silver. Melanie did this to understand more about the materiality of silver from practitioners who have extensive experience using the material. To learn more about silver on a microscopic level, Melanie and Dr Leah-Nani Alconcel produced a series of digital photographs observing the crystallisation process when silver-nitrate reacts with ascorbic acid. Melanie has created becquerel daguerreotypes and palladium-platinum prints of supernovae, to highlight the origin of silver and palladium within high energy stellar events. Melanie has also made cyanotypes of the night sky toned using green tea. The iron-based cyanotypes offer a viable alternative to silver prints.This project was supported by Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants and Patreon. With thanks to Mark Devereux Projects and the University of Birmingham.