‘Veriditas (in the future perfect)’ is a video presentation by Jol Thoms that reflects on research into nuclear fusion technology; a technology modeled on the reactive processes that cause stars to burn. A fusion reaction burns at 150 million degrees celsius during which hydrogen atoms are fused into helium atoms, essentially turning water into a self sustaining energy source.
‘Veriditas (in the future perfect)’ looks beyond the value of nuclear fusion as a geopolitical resource toward a re-understanding of this pursuit – a quest to build and harness a star – by tracing a history through the european alchemical tradition, an ancient proto scientific process of chemical transformation, and the concept of viriditas coined by 12th century mystic, Saint Hildegard of Bingen. Veriditas (Latin) gives a name to the power that allows green things to grow, to automatically renew themselves.
The ‘greening green’.
Navigating the rich visual relationalities of premodernity, ‘Veriditas (in the future perfect)’ explores a western european ancestry still rooted in animism and the virtue of conjuring a sustainable verdancy, something that ‘clean’ fusion energy could one day help to provide, if such a thing were possible.
As part of Joachim Couke and Lasse Bo’s upcoming exhibition, ‘And Here You Are, Holding On’ we will be hosting a day long web screening of ‘Viriditas (in the future perfect)’ by artist and researcher Jol Thoms. The screening will be followed by a webinar to further explore and open discussion around the central themes of the film.
