The will to power is what Nietzsche believes to be the true driving force that moves humans (and things) to become what they are meant to be. In his words, “the will to power (…) is the elementary fact from which a becoming, an acting, results as a consequence.” I am fascinated by the idea that this force can be interpretated as both the pure spirit within human beings, and the entropic drift in this universe.

It was while I was writing my thesis that my tutor, Ben Shai van der Wal, introduced this concept in one of our first meetings. I was only able to read a few pages of the book, those in which Nietzsche reflects on nature. These few, but substantial lines, carried enough weight to form the foundation of what I was thinking and making at that time. The concept still resonates in what I explore today, helping me decode the flows of energy in this world and facilitating a deeper understanding of my own internal drive.

Las lágrimas secas de los Andes -the dry tears of the Andes- seeks to reveal the will to power. A saline solution sprayed on a brass plate evokes an emancipatory cry that emerges from within a landscape and cannot be contained. These tears, at the same time, interact with the will to power of the refined metal, to rebound with the environment, rust, crystallize and always change into colors that are the genuine expression of more stable bonds. In Nietzsche’s words:

“(…) every specific body strives to make itself master of all space and to extend its own force (its will to power) and to reject everything that opposes its extension. But it continually clashes with equal efforts of other bodies and ends up adjusting (unifying) with those that are sufficiently akin to it, and then they conspire together for power.

And the process continues...”