Journal · Materials

Copper, quartz and shungite: a field guide to our materials

What each material is, where it comes from and why we use it.

Copper

Warm, workable and endlessly photogenic. We use copper shavings and wound copper wire, and copper pipe for our garden sculptures. Left unlacquered it darkens beautifully over time; lacquered it keeps its bright shine.

Clear quartz

The classic crystal of the orgonite tradition. A single clear point at the tip of a pyramid catches the light like a lantern. We record where every crystal comes from.

Shungite

A black, carbon-rich stone from Karelia in Russia. In a piece it reads as deep, glossy darkness, a band of night between the copper and the quartz.