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Please join us for our Spring 2026 Colloquium series!
Help us welcome Dr. Emily Eliza Scott (Assistant Professor of History of Art and Architecture and Environmental Studies, University of Oregon) to present
On Mineral Rights in the Age of Extreme Extraction
Abstract: In 2015, the Rotterdam-based Spanish artist, Lara Almarcegui, acquired a lease granting her permission to explore, develop, and extract a subterranean iron ore deposit near Oslo, Norway. This was the first of several permits she has since obtained in various European countries as part of an ongoing project on underground mineral rights. Almarcegui’s endeavor is notable not only for its visualization of the often-invisible geography of the underground—a geography increasingly only “seen” by oil and gas surveyors and the geologists working in their service—but also, for the way it creates holes in the market by withdrawing and withholding resources from possible circulation. In this talk, I explore her project as one among a host of recent artworks that address the rampant financialization and privatization of subterranean realms under advanced capitalism, especially linked to ever more extreme forms of extraction and real estate development. Of greatest interest are those artworks which seek to both expose and to counter extractive violence.
This talk is free to attend and takes place in room S230 of the ENR2 building on Friday, March 27, 2026 from 3:30-5pm. All are welcome!
ZOOM LINK: https://arizona.zoom.us/j/89660676863
Followed by Happy Hour at Screwbean (103 N Park Ave)