Here & There, Now & Then
Esparto
Gonzaga’s latest film – Here & There, Now & Then – is an exploration of esparto grass. These extremely resistant grasses shape the Mediterranean landscape, from sun-up to sun-down. Esparto – a seemingly fragile fibre – has in fact been one of the building blocks of the area for millennia, as well as the human cultures where it is found. Esparto is a warrior, its morpho-structural and physiological ability to adapt makes it able to cope with hydric-stress and increasingly hot temperatures – particularly in areas of southern Spain, where desertification is already taking hold. More than that, Esparto aids production of mosses, lichens and cyanobacteria. The world would not last long without these essentials.
Gonzaga’s film focusses on details, blending documentation with abstraction, highlighting the importance of sustainable and durable natural resources. Looking to materials such as this, we nurture what we have to-hand. We re-localise. We turn to quick and easy production methods at our pearl. If we are to meet the goal of the Paris Climate Accord, and not race toward the 4.5-degree world the United Nations predicts, we must use what we can sustain. This means investing in declining traditions, instead of – for example – perpetuating the damaging cycle of plastic production.
Esparto is useful at each stage of its life-span: from strengthening soil through its roots; to harbouring vital microbes in its shade. From its possibility to be shaped into sturdy clothing, tools and home-ware; to the end of its useful life, when it can then be used as fertiliser to support the growth of more. Turning to such materials may involve laborious craftmanship, but doing so reflects the greatest form of restraint that we can show during our time on Earth.
