The Song of the Earth casts a gaze on the current state of our planet, using the elements of copper, salt, water and electricity.

Copper
A metal with a warm reddish appearance, copper is the best conductor of electricity known to us. Around 65% of the world’s copper production is used to produce electricity.
The province of Huelva in Spain has one of the richest and oldest copper deposits. In the early 1900s, Rio Tinto was the world’s largest open-pit mine, employing over 16,000 workers in 1907. The crater of Corta Atalaya, next to Rio Tinto, is the most spectacular testimony of the second industrial revolution.

Water
This is the element that makes life possible, and, together with fossil fuels, is the strategic resource par excellence.
The piece Tajo, Tajuña, Alagón, Jarama displays the catchment area of the river Tagus to which the rivers in the Region of Madrid belong: Manzanares, Jarama, Henares and Guadarrama.
The section of the exhibition called Tagus Catchment Area 1 and 2 graphically displays the layout of the river Tagus and its tributaries, while the adjoining section shows the dams and reservoirs built in the area, their years of construction and the use given to their water.

Salt
In ancient times salt was used to preserve meat and fish, hence its vital importance.
In fact, the word “salt” is at the root of “salary”.
Its name may be found in many towns and cities, and its trade led to a wide network of roads.
In Spain salt is produced mostly in salt mines next to the sea.
The photos on display were taken in 1984 in the salt pans in Torrevieja which come from the two lakes there.
The work Salary creates a rhythmic “rug” of sorts with small mounds of salt over which olive branches are hanging in allusion to the process of crystallisation.

Electricity
The piece Field of Batteries shows the simplest way of producing electricity, an ever-present and absolutely essential element in our digital and industrialised world. The materials used are copper, magnesium and an electrolyte (in this case water plus salt), some cables establishing the circuit and LEDs lit using the generated current.
Electricity, the central piece of the show, reminds visitors that the Earth is nothing but a gigantic battery, charged through photosynthesis throughout millions of years and that in the last 200 years we have been discharging this battery at a frantic rate without any existing replacements or reserves.