Berndnaut Smilde
Nimbus Midland, 2017
C-type print on aluminum
125 x 190 cm

About the work

Berndnaut Smilde’s works are a mix of photography and installation art. For this image he created an artificial cloud in an abandoned factory in Australia: The Midlands. In his work he often makes use of scientific principles. The clouds are created through a process that sees Smilde misting the area with water vapor before pumping smoke from a machine. The water particles then stick to the smoke to form the fleeting installations. The clouds last only a few seconds, just enough to have a photograph taken from them.  

This temporary aspect of the work is what’s interests Smilde. It is there for a few seconds before they fall apart again. The physical aspect is important but the work in the end only exists as a photograph. 

The locations he chooses for his clouds also add to the theme of transience. They are often abandoned buildings, with visible remnants that refer to its history. This photograph is shot at Midland Railway Workshops, a former industrial site where they produced trains from 1904 in Midland, Perth, Australia.