Time, stillness, hardness, remembrance—rocks are solidifications. Igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic—they are aggregations of minerals that regardless of their genesis contain infinite compressed landscapes that have formed over billions of years. Layers and strata—each embedded in the other, pushing against and resisting at once, for eternity. Some much force ingrained in perfect stillness.

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Oftentimes, gaining any insights into this petrified universe entails destruction. Geology, petrology, mineralogy—we have devised different ways to crack open their mysteries and read the codes. Stony mineral essence is key to form and colors. What we can see is down to scale, the myopia of our anthropocentric gaze, and our willingness. How far, how close, and through which lenses should we look? How close is too close is only dictated by the episteme and what it allows us to see and say.

Following the previous installment (Earthly Surfacing), Antennae: Earthly Mattering continues our journey deeper into the strata of knowledge and matter that define our existence as earthlings. Among all the extremely valuable contributions to this issue, those by playwright Manuela Infante and artist Jenny Kendler perfectly bookend the content. From altering scales and leading inquiries into deep time as an embodied dimension, they both pose radical questions about our relationships with memory and meaning.

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As always, I am indebted to all contributors, Antennae’s Academic board, and everyone else who has tirelessly lent their skills and time to the making of this issue.