MAIDER LOPEZ
San Sebastián, Spain, 1975
Received the Fundación Botín Art Grant in 1998

Arqueología de la hierba, 2023–2025
Photographic series. 16 photographs
32.5 × 40 cm each
Acquired in 2025

Arqueología de la hierba (Archaeology of Grass) originates from a conversation between the artist and a shepherd, who explained that sheep, being ruminants and having teeth only on their lower jaw, graze in a particular way, leaving the grass at a certain height—unlike horses, which, having teeth on both the upper and lower jaws, cut the grass much shorter. This conversation is the starting point of the project, in which the artist focuses on grass, zooming in on the specific, exploring the concrete, and tracing the small changes generated by animals, people, and climate in the grass.

This photographic and textual work catalogues the different forms of grass, with the intention of understanding what has taken place in a meadow by observing it. Through the analysis of the grass—its color, height, or inclination—past events become visible: climatic conditions, which animal has grazed, or who or what has walked through that place.

The project is developed through observation and conversations with shepherds and livestock farmers. It explores the relationship between people, animals, and the environment, positioning the human being as part of life—rather than at its center—and contributes to the urgency of adopting ecological awareness and restoring our relationship with the natural environment.